Possible nova in M31

[Robin Leadbeater]

Hi George,

There is another one classified by me last October which was then also confirmed by professionals

https://britastro.org/node/15857

but I dont know of any others.

It would be nice to have a higher SNR spectrum to confirm the presence of other features (eg Fe curtain  or He, N lines) but that would  need a larger telescope. The  spectroscopic evolution  of an initial blue continuum with a strong H alpha emission emerging over time with around this velocity is characteristic of a nova though.

Cheers

Robin

[Alan Thomas]

Fascinating stuff, gentlemen! (not that I comprehend all the techicalities).

Well done indeed.

[George Carey]

Hi Robin,

I tried to open the FITS file of the spectrum as on the TNS page – Maxim will not open it. 

tns_2019agt_2019-02-04_18-35-15_Other_Other.fit

What am I doing wrong?

George

[Robin Leadbeater]

Hi George,

The fits file is  2 column data table (wavelength and flux) not an image so Maxim does not understand it. You can view the data in a free general fits data viewer like NASA’s fv for example or alternatively download the dat file version and view it in notepad, excel etc.  Better though is to view it in a free dedicated spectroscopy program like Visual Spec or ISIS etc.  I have also loaded it into the BAA spectroscopy database so you can view it there too.

https://britastro.org/specdb/data_graph.php?obs_id=3607

Cheers

Robin

[George Carey]

I learn something new every day!

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