Electronic Telegram No. 3732
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 CENTAURI 2013 = PNV J13544700-5909080
     John Seach, Chatsworth Island, NSW, Australia, reports his discovery of
an apparent nova (mag 5.5) in six CCD images obtained with a digital SLR
camera (+ 50-mm-f.l. f/1.0 lens; limiting mag 11) taken on Dec. 2.692 UT; he
provided the position of the variable as R.A. = 13h54m47s, Decl. = -59d09'08"
(equinox 2000.0); nothing was visible at this position on an image taken by
Seach with the same instrumentation on Nov. 26.69 UT (limiting magnitude 11).
The variable was designated PNV J13544700-5909080 when it was posted at the
Central Bureau's TOCP webpage.  Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes, and Martino
Nicolini report on their follow-up CCD observations obtained remotely through
a 0.50-m f/6.8 astrograph of the iTelescope network at Siding Spring on Dec.
3.68, with the variable appearing at mag about 5.0 and at position R.A. =
13h54m45s.22, Decl. = -59d09'04".5 (UCAC-3 catalogue reference stars); they
note that a star with blue mag 15.5 and red mag 15.1 located at 1".538 from
the transient has USNO-B1.0 catalogue position end figures 45s.37, 03".5.
Guido et al. posted their confirmation image at URL http://bit.ly/1cWNPIW,
and an animation showing a comparison between their image and a red archival
Digital Sky Survey (DSS) plate from 1999 at website URL http://bit.ly/1bfm4IR.
     K. Hornoch, Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, obtained 0.3-s R-band images
with the Danish 1.54-m telescope at La Silla on Dec. 3.361 UT that show the
variable at position end figures 45s.34, 04".2; his comparison of a stacked
R-band image from the Danish 1.54-m telescope (left) and a DSS red image
(right) is posted at http://www.asu.cas.cz/~asteroid/PNV_J13544700-5909080.png.
Hornoch adds that the presumed nova is likely associated with (or identical to)
a star of mag about 15 (USNO-B1.0 0308-0442031 = 2MASS 13544534-5909040 = UCAC4
155-128029.  Hornoch also notes that an all-sky camera at the Danish 1.54-m
telescope yields the following R-band magnitudes (uncertainty +/- 0.2 mag) for
PNV J13544700-5909080:  Dec. 1.338, [6.3; 2.340, 5.9; 3.340, 4.8.
     Visual magnitude estimates (those with asterisks were forwarded by E. O.
Waagen, AAVSO):  Nov. 27.803, [7.0 (A. Pearce, Nedlands, Western Australia);
Dec. 3.239, 5.3* (S. Otero, Buenos Aires, Argentina); 3.288, 5.4 (Alexandre
Amorim, Florianopolis, Brazil); 3.581, 5.0* (P. Williams, Heathcote, NSW,
Australia); 3.718, 5.0* (P. Camilleri, Warners Bay, NSW, Australia); 3.743,
4.7 (Pearce); 3.824, 4.6 (Pearce).
     Malcolm Locke, Christchurch, New Zealand, reports that a low-resolution
spectrogram of PNV J13544700-5909080, obtained with a 100-lines/mm transmission
grating and a 25-cm Newtonian reflector (+ QHY5 camera) on Dec. 3.38 UT, shows
H_alpha and H_beta emission indicative of a nova; his spectrum is posted at
website URL http://www.flickr.com/photos/malclocke/11187714294/.  Rob Kaufman,
White Cliffs, NSW, Australia, writes that a low-resolution optical spectrogram
of PNV J13544700-5909080, obtained on Dec. 3.621 with a digital SLR camera and
a 200-mm-f.l. lens (+ Star Analyser grating), also shows strong H_alpha and
H_beta emission lines.


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2013 CBAT
2013 December 4                  (CBET 3732)              Daniel W. E. Green