Nova in Scorpius (old news)

[starfinder]

There is actually another nova now visible in amateur scopes, Nova Scorpii 2012:
http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-461
It is now holding steady at about mag 11.1.

The news is about a month old but I didn't read about it until a few days ago. Just imagine, we were looking at Nova Sagittarii 2012 no. 3 last week through the eyepiece but didn't realise that there was another visible nova nearby.

Here is a link to its current light curve on AAVSO:
http://www.aavso.org/lcg/plot?auid=000- ... an=&vmean=

I must start to pay attention to the AAVSO alert notices and special notices:
http://www.aavso.org/alert-notice-archive
http://www.aavso.org/special-notice-archive

[starfinder]

Below is a screenshot from my TheSky6 planetarium program showing where Nova Scorpii 2012 and Nova Sagittarius 2012 No. 3 are. The screenshot shows the southeastern sky over Singapore today, 7 July 2012 at 8.00pm.

Nova Scorpii 2012 is at RA 17 50 53.90, Dec -32 37 20.5 (2000.0). It is near the bright open cluster M7.

Below the first screenshot is another one with greater detail for Nova Scorpii 2012.
You may also generate your own customised finder charts using the AAVSO's Variable Star Plotter (VSP) at http://www.aavso.org/vsp.