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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1413      1999 May 23 12.47UT
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             GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK
WORLD WIDE WEB                    http://www.demon.co.uk/astronomer
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NOVA VELORUM 1999
Numerous reports have been received direct to TA HQ of a naked
eye nova in the constellation of Vela. The following text appeared
on IAUC 7176:

Independent visual discoveries of a bright nova have been made
by Peter Williams, Heathcote, New South Wales (via S. Lee and A.
Pearce), at m_v = 3.1 on May 22.396 UT and by Alan C. Gilmore,
Mount John University Observatory, on May 22.451.  Lee provides the
following position from Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) encoders:
R.A. = 10h44m49s.5, Decl. = -52o25'35" (2000).  Lee reports that a
low-dispersion spectrogram taken by Lewis, Colless, Cannon,
Bridges, and himself with the AAT (+ fiber spectrograph on 2dF;
1-s exposure, mirror stopped down to 2.5 m) shows H-alpha and
H-beta in narrow emission with a strong P-Cyg profile.  An echelle
spectrogram (10-min exposure centered on May 22.500) of the
apparent nova by K. R. Pollard and J. A. McSaveney with the Mt.
John 1-m telescope shows H-alpha with blueshifted absorption and
slightly redshifted emission.  Gilmore provides the following
photometry obtained with the Mount John 0.6-m reflector (comparison
star HR 4167 = p Vel, with assumed V = 3.84, U-B = +0.07, B-V =
+0.30, V-R = +0.20, V-I = +0.30):  May 22.488, V = 2.88, U-B =
-0.27, B-V = +0.24, V-R = +0.16, V-I = +0.28; 22.574, 2.85, -0.27,
+0.28, +0.19, +0.27; 22.599, 2.84, -0.25, +0.29, +0.23, +0.33;
22.635, 2.80, -0.26, +0.31, +0.23, +0.33.
IAUC 7176

Peter Williams, discoverer e-mails:
May 22.395UT, 3.1
May 22.488UT, 3.0
May 23.390UT, 2.8
May 23.421UT, 2.8
May 23.445UT, 2.8

Andrew Pearce, Nedlands e-mails visual estimates:
May 22.519UT  3.0; 22.535UT  2.9; 22.563UT  2.9; 22.582UT  2.9
23.431UT, 2.9; 23.482UT,  2.7; 23.508UT, 2.6;

I have managed to observe the nova suspect in the 16" reflector and
have the following accurate position:
RA 10h 44m 49s  DEC -52d 25m 42s (2000)

Fraser Farrell: May 22.125UT 2.9:

Mati Morell:    May 23.420UT 2.8

Patrick Schmeer e-mails:
According to the USNO-A2.0 catalog there is a blue mag 16.4 star
only 3.0" from the position reported by Pam Kilmartin on IAUC 7176:
R.A. 10h44m48.416s  Decl. -52d25'31.23" (J2000.0) r= 16.4, b= 16.4
Looks like a very good candidate for the pre-nova. It is also the
USNO-A2.0 star closest to the (probably less accurate) position
reported by Andrew Pearce. The following star seems to be too far
away (9.4" from Kilmartin's coordinates) and too red (b-r= 1.2):
R.A. 10h44m49.095s  Decl. -52d25'29.87" (J2000.0) r= 16.6, b= 17.8

Guy M Hurst