Electronic Telegram No. 3124 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION CBAT Director: Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University; 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA 02138; U.S.A. e-mail: cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org) URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network NOVA OPHIUCHI 2012 No. 2 = PNV J17395600-2447420 John Seach, Chatsworth Island, NSW, Australia, reported his discovery of a possible nova (mag 10.5) on six images (limiting mag 11.0) taken on May 19.484 UT with a digital SLR camera (+ 50-mm f/1.0 lens). The object was measured to be located at R.A. = 17h39m56s, Decl. = -24d47'42" (equinox 2000.0); Seach adds that nothing is visible at this position on the Digitized Sky Survey (red image, but no date or limiting magnitude provided). The variable was designated PNV J17395600-2447420 when it was posted at the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage. Additional magnitudes for the variable: May 17.525, [12.5: (Rob Kaufman, Bright, Victoria, Australia; digital SLR camera); 18.488, [11.0 (Seach); 18.614, [14: (Seiichiro Kiyota, Tsukuba, Japan; 85-mm f/2 camera lens + ST-10XME CCD camera + I_c filter); 18.735, [13.2 (Akira Takao, Kitakyushu, Japan; 100-mm f/4 camera lens + STL-6303E camera); 19.679, 10.6 (Kaufman; new object visible about 0'.7 northeast of Seach's position); 20.3, 9.5 (Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero, and Nick Howes; remotely with a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph of the RAS Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.; position end figures 57s.00, 07".3; reference stars from CMC-14 catalogue; an animation showing a comparison between their confirmation image and a red Digitized Sky Survey from 1996 has been posted at website URL http://bit.ly/KCYwpB); 22.67, 10.4 (Takao); 23.98, 10.3 (Luca Buzzi and Federica Luppi, Varese, Italy, 0.38-m f/6.8 reflector; position end figures 57s.01, 07".1; UCAC-3 reference stars; their image is posted at website URL http://www.astrogeo.va.it/pub/TOCP/PNV_J17395600-2447420.jpg). Carl Hergenrother, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, reports photometry of PNV J17395600-2447420 obtained remotely with a Sierra Stars 0.61-m telescope. The V and B magnitudes are derived from the AAVSO VPHOT program, while the R-band magnitudes were measured using stars from the CMC-14 catalogue: May 21.4062 UT, V = 11.18 +/- 0.01; 21.4068, R = 10.02 +/- 0.10; 21.4071, B = 12.61 +/- 0.18; 24.3981, V = 12.21 +/- 0.03; 24.3990, B = 13.55 +/- 0.32; 24.3999, R = 10.81 +/- 0.10. An average of astrometry measured in the V- and R-band images taken on May 21 and 24 gives the following position relative to the CMC-14 astrometric catalogue: R.A. = 17h39m57s.00, Decl. = -24d47'07".2 (equinox 2000.0). Terry Bohlsen reports that he obtained spectroscopy (resolution 600) of PNV J17395600-2447420 on May 21 showing that the object is very reddened and demonstrates a broad H_alpha line with a FWHM of 2570 km/s. Some Fe II lines are present, and a strong [O I] 777.3-nm line is present. The spectra were obtained with a LISA spectrograph using a 24-micron slit on a 20-cm telescope at Armidale, NSW, Australia. The spectra are posted at the following website URL: http://users.northnet.com.au/~bohlsen/Nova/novaoph.htm. Wolfgang Vollmann (Vienna, Austria) reports that a low-resolution spectrogram (100 lines per mm) taken on May 22.16 UT by Hermann Koberger at Vilaflor, Tenerife, using a 0.6-m reflector clearly shows strong H_alpha emission for this object. Kazuyoshi Imamura, Okayama University of Science (OUS) team, writes that he obtained a low-dispersion spectrum (R about 400) of PNV J17395600-2447420 on May 22.697 UT using a 0.28-m Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (+ DSS-7 spectrometer) at the OUS observatory. Broad and prominent emission lines of the Balmer series, Fe II (multiplets 42, 48, 49, 74), O I (747.7- and 777.3-nm), and Mg II (823.2-nm ) can be seen in the spectrum. The FWHM of H-alpha is approximately 2900 km/s. This suggests that the object is a classical nova. The spectrogram has been posted at the following website URL: http://blog-imgs-44.fc2.com/t/n/b/tnblab/pnOPH_20120522.png. F. M. Walter, Stony Brook University, reports that PNV J17395600-2447420 is an "Fe II"-type nova. A red spectrogram (range 570-690 nm; 0.31-nm resolution) obtained on May 23.41 UT with the SMARTS 1.5-m RC spectrograph at Cerro Tololo shows H-alpha in emission with an equivalent width of -60.0 nm and a FWZI of +/- 3300 km/s. No wind absorption is evident. The Fe II multiplet 74 lines are in emission. The nova is very red. The interstellar Na D lines have an equivalent width of 0.29 nm. BVRI/JHK photometry with the SMARTS 1.3-m Andicam imager on May 23.312 yields V = 11.7, B-V = +1.3, and K = 6.4. The field is highly extincted; the brighter stars within about 2' of the nova typcally have colors B-V around +2 to +3, and J-K around +1. Christian Buil, Castanet, France, reports that he obtained spectroscopy of PNV J17395600-2447420 on May 24.951 UT with a LISA spectrograph on a 0.28-telescope (resolution 0.8 nm, range 390-715 nm), showing an H_alpha line with intense emission (FWHM of 3060 km/s). His spectrogram is posted at website URL http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/nova_oph2012_2/obs.htm. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT 2012 May 26 (CBET 3124) Daniel W. E. Green