V1280 Sco

February 7, 2007

IAUC 8803 announces a new nova in Scorpius, independently discovered by Y. Nakamura and Y. Sakurai. The position is

16:57:40.91 -32:20:36.4 J2000

and the unfiltered magnitude is about 8.3 (T. Krajci, 2007-02-06).

Spectra indicate blue color, no emission blueward of 540nm, but Halpha emission with P-Cyg profile.

Report observations to the AAVSO as: 9999+99 V1280 Sco. Please be sure to indicate what you used for comparison stars.

Thank you for your astronomical efforts and contributions!

February 16, 2007

Event: Very Bright Nova in Scorpius

This nova, discovered at 9th magnitude 12 days ago, has brightened dramatically in the past few days to 3rd magnitude, becoming one of the brightest novae in the past several years. It has gained the attention of the professional community and will be observed by numerous satellites, including Chandra, Swift, and INTEGRAL.