Observing Alert: Possible New Dwarf Nova In Andromeda

[/caption]According to AAVSO Special Notice #122 prepared by M. Templeton, there’s a possible new WZ Sge-type dwarf nova located in Andromeda. The alert was posted yesterday and intial observations were sent in within the last 48 hours. For more information, read on…

AAVSO Special Notice #122

Multiple observers have confirmed the detection of an optical transient in Andromeda whose photometric behavior is thus far consistent with its classification as a WZ Sge-type dwarf nova system. The object was submitted to the CBAT unconfirmed objects list (D. Green, editor) by an unidentified observer on 2008 September 01.6.

A comprehensive list of the numerous follow-up observations made in Russia was published and an announcement of apparent very short period superhumps (P ~ 0.055 days) was made in vsnet-alert 10478. A comparison of the field with archival POSSII plates by D. Denisenko et al suggests the progenitor is very faint, with a blue magnitude of 21 or fainter. The reported outburst magnitudes of approximately V=12.5 then suggest an amplitude of at least 8 magnitudes.

M. Andreev (Terskol, Russia) obtained the following coordinates for the object using a 28-cm telescope:

RA: 02h 00m 25.42s , Dec: +44d 10m 18.4s (J2000)

Several other sets of coordinates have been published by Russian observers on the page noted above, and most are within a few tenths of an arcsecond.

Observations of this new object, including time-series photometry, are encouraged. The object has not been formally named, and the WZ Sge classification has not been definitively confirmed. Observers are asked to follow the object during the next several weeks. The object may fade and rebrighten, so please submit all observations including “fainter-than” estimates. Instrumental time-series observations are also encouraged to confirm the presence of superhumps and (if possible) define the period.

Please submit all data to the AAVSO using the name and/or AUID pair VSX J020025.4+441018 , AUID 000-BFT-799.

Nova Andromeda Photo courtesy of AstroAlert.