Observation by Mike Harlow: Nova Sagittae 2026: Spectrum

Uploaded by

Mike Harlow

Observer

Mike Harlow

Observed

2026 Sep 04 - 21:00

Uploaded

2026 Sep 05 - 08:22

Objects

Nova Sge 2026
Spectrum

Equipment

12inch F/3.6 astrograph
ASI 6200MM CMOS camera, no filter
20cm diameter, 9 degree objective prism

Exposure

36 x 10 seconds

Location

Ipswich, UK

Target name

Nova Sagittae 2026

Title

Nova Sagittae 2026: Spectrum

About this image

Spectrum of the 84 x 72 arc minute field containing nova Sagittae 2026. Fun to scan around and find other objects of interest like QT Sge at bottom left. This is an eclipsing binary with a Wolf-Rayet star showing many emission lines. To its right are two more stars showing H alpha emission lines. And not far from the nova (north-east) is another emission line star, possibly QW Sge?

The nova shows the broad Hydrogen Balmer series lines, two bright oxygen emission lines in the IR and several iron lines on the red side of H beta. The V-magnitude at the time was near 9.5. (North and red are up).

This illustrates the value of the objective prism surveys carried out by professional astronomers in the 1950's to 1980's...you can find lots of interesting stuff!!

Note: There is a very nice calibrated spectrum of the nova by F Sims in the BAA database showing all the features seen above.

Files associated with this observation

Nova_Sagittae_2026_spectrum_20260904_text.jpg (1.3 MB)

Like this image

Andy Wilson, Robin Leadbeater

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