Something happening behind the clouds
http://www.universetoday.com/106932/a-n ... centaurus/
Kochu/5-12-13
Naked Eye Nova Erupts in Centaurus
- weixing
- Super Moderator
- Posts: 4708
- Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:22 am
- Favourite scope: Vixen R200SS & Celestron 6" F5 Achro Refractor
- Location: (Tampines) Earth of Solar System in Orion Arm of Milky Way Galaxy in Local Group Galaxies Cluster
Re: Naked Eye Nova Erupts in Centaurus
Hi,
Too bad it's daytime for us...
Have a nice day.
Too bad it's daytime for us...
Have a nice day.
Yang Weixing
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."
- starfinder
- Posts: 1038
- Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 11:15 pm
- Location: River Valley / Tanglin Road
- Contact:
Re: Naked Eye Nova Erupts in Centaurus
Nova Centauri 2013 is now still brightening and at around mag 3.6, which makes it the brightest in recent years (since 1999), see:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ ... Way_galaxy
Its light curve is here:
http://www.aavso.org/lcg/plot?auid=000- ... an=&vmean=
I've checked a planetarium program and it shows that the nova would be at around 15 degrees above the horizon in the south from Singapore at 6am these days.
Nova Centauri 2013 is near the bright star Beta Centauri. Here's a good finder chart:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4_k9cTOiKCU/U ... _Chart.png
Must try to catch this one!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ ... Way_galaxy
Its light curve is here:
http://www.aavso.org/lcg/plot?auid=000- ... an=&vmean=
I've checked a planetarium program and it shows that the nova would be at around 15 degrees above the horizon in the south from Singapore at 6am these days.
Nova Centauri 2013 is near the bright star Beta Centauri. Here's a good finder chart:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4_k9cTOiKCU/U ... _Chart.png
Must try to catch this one!
- starfinder
- Posts: 1038
- Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 11:15 pm
- Location: River Valley / Tanglin Road
- Contact:
Re: Naked Eye Nova Erupts in Centaurus
I managed to view and image Nova Centauri 2013 this morning, Saturday 7 December 2013 at around 6am, from here in Singapore city.
Through a 15x50 binoculars, the nova was easily seen about 1 degree above beta-Centauri (Hadar) and appeared whitish. I did not manage to view it without optical aid; it was then about 14 degrees above the horizon in the SSE.
Based on the reported light curve at the AAVSO website (link in my post above), the nova was then probably just a day past its peak maximum brightness, and at around mag 3.9.
Here is an image taken at the same time. Canon EOS 60D ISO800 5s, with an SMC Pentax-A 50mm 1:2 lens at f/4.
The constellation Crux (Southern Cross) can be seen in the top right of the main image. In the insert, the nova is above centre, and mag 0.6 beta-Centauri (Hadar) is below centre.
Through a 15x50 binoculars, the nova was easily seen about 1 degree above beta-Centauri (Hadar) and appeared whitish. I did not manage to view it without optical aid; it was then about 14 degrees above the horizon in the SSE.
Based on the reported light curve at the AAVSO website (link in my post above), the nova was then probably just a day past its peak maximum brightness, and at around mag 3.9.
Here is an image taken at the same time. Canon EOS 60D ISO800 5s, with an SMC Pentax-A 50mm 1:2 lens at f/4.
The constellation Crux (Southern Cross) can be seen in the top right of the main image. In the insert, the nova is above centre, and mag 0.6 beta-Centauri (Hadar) is below centre.