First attempt at a spectrum of the nova this morning. The sky was starting to brighten and the telescope only just cleared the observatory wall so a very narrow window of opportunity!
The image covers the same field as the AAVSO chart shown above with the nova near the centre. It shows a strong continuum but little sign of emission lines yet. I guess it is still in the hot, dense ‘fireball’ phase. As it expands and cools the emission lines should appear as the continuum fades in the ‘nebula’ phase…it will be fascinating to follow over the next few weeks.
As Gary mentions above it is bright. Two comparison star magnitudes are shown on the spectral image.
The spectrum was taken with a 26cm, 3 degree objective prism on a 12inch F/3.6 astrograph and unfiltered CMOS camera.
Mike.
British Astronomical Association
Supporting amateur astronomers since 1890
