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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2824      2012 May 26 18.05UT
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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NOVA OPHIUCHI 2012 No. 2
John Seach, Australia, reports on CBET 3124 his discovery of a possible 
magnitude 10.5 nova on six images (limiting mag 11.0) taken on 2012 May 
19.484 UT with a SLR camera and 50-mm f/1.0 lens.  The object is at RA 
17h 39m 56s, DEC -24 47' 42" (2000). Nothing is visible on the Digitised 
Sky Survey.

The variable was designated PNV J17395600-2447420 when notified to the 
Central Bureau.  On May 19.679, magnitude 10.6 was recorded by Rob 
Kaufman, Victoria, Australia; digital SLR camera. Ernesto Guido et. al. 
also recorded it at magnitude 9.5 on May 20.3UT remotely with a 0.43-m 
f/6.8 astrograph of the RAS Observatory near Mayhill.

Carl Hergenrother, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, reports photometry 
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.

Terry Bohlsen reports that he obtained spectroscopy (resolution 600) 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.

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.  There is 
high extinction in the field; the brighter stars within about 2' of the 
nova typically have colours B-V around +2 to +3, and J-K around +1.

Guy M Hurst