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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 3683      2022 Feb 28 16.52UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK      Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk
WORLD WIDE WEB                         http://www.theastronomer.org
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PROBABLE NOVA IN M81(=AT 2022DGD)

K. Hornoch, H. Kucakova (Ondrejov), S. C. Williams (Turku),
G. Sala, J. Jose (UPC-IEEC), B. Stecklum (TLS), M. J. Darnley (LJMU), A.
Kaur (PSU), D. H. Hartmann (Clemson), A. W. Shafter (SDSU)report on ATEL
#15246:

The M81 nova monitoring collaboration reports the independent discovery of a
probable nova in M81 on a co-added 5400-s unfiltered CCD frame taken on 2022
Feb. 24.947 UT with the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov. 

The object was independently discovered on Feb. 25.708 UT by M. Zhang and X.
Gao and designated as AT 2022dgd. The object was designated by us as M81N
2022-02b and is located at:

RA 9h55m13s.87, DEC +69o05'46".9 (2000.0), which is 103.4" west and 111.8"
north of the centre of M81 (see link to discovery image below). 

Here we list the observing dates and corresponding photometry: 

Date [UT]    |  Mag   | Err  | Filter  | Telescope 
2022-02-23.192 | <22.0  |      | C       | OND 
2022-02-24.947 |  21.1  | 0.25 | C       | OND 
2022-02-25.899 |  20.2  | 0.15 | C       | OND 
2022-02-27.189 |  20.4  | 0.25 | C       | OND 

As with all extragalactic novae, follow-up spectroscopic and photometric
observations to determine the nova's spectroscopic class and rate of decline
(speed class) are encouraged. The OND 0.65-m is a reflecting telescope at
the Ondrejov observatory operated jointly by the Astronomical Institute of
ASCR and the Astronomical Institute of the Charles University of Prague,
Czech Republic. It uses a Moravian Instruments G2-3200 MkII CCD camera (with
a Kodak KAF-3200ME sensor and standard BVRI photometric filters) mounted at
the prime focus. The unfiltered OND photometry was calibrated against R-band
comparison stars from:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995AJ....109.1055P

Discovery image: http://www.asu.cas.cz/~asteroid/M81N2022_02b.png

Guy M Hurst

