Special Notice #166: Possible Nova in Ophiuchus [V2672 Oph; Nova Oph 2009]

AAVSO Special Notice #166

Possible Nova in Ophiuchus
August 17, 2009

Observers S. Kiyota (Tsukuba, Japan) and L. Elenin (Moscow, Russia) have independently confirmed the presence of a new object in Ophiuchus [V2672 Oph] previously reported on the CBAT Unconfirmed Observations Page (D.W.E. Green, editor; see http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/unconf/cbat_unconf.html for details).

Kiyota remotely used the GRAS-G1 (0.3-m) in Mayhill, New Mexico and reports the following magnitudes: B=13.54, JD 2455060.6329; V=11.90, JD 2455060.6341; Rc=10.42, JD 2455060.6353; Ic=9.36, JD 2455060.6365 (via T. Kato, vsnet-alert 11399).  Kiyota derives the following coordinates: RA: 17 38 19.70 , Dec: -26 44 13.8. Elenin remotely used the Tzec Maun 0.35-m, also in Mayhill, New Mexico and reports the following magnitudes: B=13.67, JD 2455060.7247; V=12.43, JD 2455060.7230; Rc=10.78, JD 2455060.7184 (private communication).  Elenin also derived coordinates with the following position end figures: RA: 19.72s, Dec: 13.7" (+/- 0.6 arcseconds RMS). This object has no counterpart in either the USNO-B1.0 or 2MASS catalogs; however, a faint source is visible at these coordinates in both the DSS-II and 2MASS J images.  The object is within the plane of the Milky Way and is in a very dense star field; as T. Kato points out in vsnet-alert 11399, this object is highly reddened, with (B-V) = +1.6.  It has not yet been spectroscopically confirmed as a nova; the AAVSO will issue an Alert Notice [AAVSO Alert Notice 402] if and when confirmation arrives and the object is formally designated as a nova.  Observations of this possible nova are encouraged.

The J2000 coordinates of this source (from L. Elenin) are as follows:

RA: 17 38 19.72 , Dec: -26 44 13.7 (+/- 0.6 arcsec)

Finder charts for this object may be plotted by entering the coordinates above into AAVSO VSP:  http://www.aavso.org/observing/charts/vsp/

Please submit all observations of this object as "VSX J173819.7-264413"

The object has been assigned the AUID of 000-BJP-605.

This AAVSO Special Notice was prepared by M. Templeton.
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