Nova V1405 in Cassiopeia now visible without optical aid

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman caught Nova V1405 Cas on May 11, 2021, from Mayhill, New Mexico. He wrote: “Nova V1405 Cassiopeiae has brightened to magnitude 5.4. The nova was magnitude +7.8 since shortly after its discovery in March 2021, but it suddenly brightened to about mag 5.4. Magnitude 5 novas are uncommon. The nova is visible for about an hour before dawn. The open cluster M52 and the Bubble Nebula are also shown in the photo.” Thank you, Eliot!

First spotted in March, Nova V1405 has suddenly flared in brightness over the past week, allowing observers to spot it without binoculars or a telescope. You can see it too, if you observe from a dark-sky site and know just where to look!

Japanese photographer Yuji Nakamura spotted a nova located in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen on March 18, 2021. At that time, this light in our sky – which has been named V1405 Cas – was shining at about magnitude 9.6, much too faint to see with the eye. Just a few days later, though, the nova had brightened to about magnitude 7.6, making it bright enough to be visible with binoculars. Now that the nova is around magnitude 5.5, those with keen eyesight and dark skies can hunt it down without any optical aid at all, though it may help to first locate it with binoculars or a telescope and then your eyes alone. The charts below will help you star hop to the nova.

Cassiopeia is very low on the northern horizon. Your viewing location will have to be free of trees, buildings and hills and free of light pollution, or you can wait until the middle of the night when Cassiopeia rises a bit higher. The nova is between the W shape of Cassiopeia and the house shape that makes up Cepheus. Take the two stars on the right side of Cassiopeia’s W shape and use them to draw a line toward Cepheus. Extend the line for approximately the same distance as the two stars are apart from each other and start looking for a little star cluster known as M52. Then look just off of M52 and use the map to pinpoint the nova. The charts and photos shown here will guide you. The first star chart is for March, but the location of the nova between Cassiopeia and Cepheus has not changed, even though the constellations’ locations have shifted a bit on the sky’s dome.

Follow the bottom 2 stars in the M- or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia to find the new nova. Image via Bob King/ Sky & Telescope.

You can star hop from moderately bright stars to the nova as shown here. Image via Bob King/ Sky & Telescope.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, captured this photo of the nova on May 11, 2021. He wrote: “Nova Cas 21 has brightened dramatically and can now be seen with the unaided eye from a dark-sky site. I captured this image of Nova Cas 21 and its surroundings early this morning. Nova Cas 21 is currently at least as bright as HIP 115395, which is a +5.55-magnitude star.” Thanks, David!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tara Mostofi in California and Alexandru Barbovschi in Moldova collaborated on this image of nova V1405 Cas on March 21, 2021. You’ll see it inside the green square (and inset) on this image. Thank you, Alexandru and Tara!

V1405 Cas is located at right ascension 23h 24m 48s, declination +61° 11′ 15″.

This object is a classical nova, meaning it apparently resulted from interactions in a binary star system, consisting of a white dwarf and a sunlike star. The white dwarf siphons off material from its companion until the white dwarf heats up enough to blast material outward, creating the brighter light that we can spot across space.

Novae are rare. One of the last novae that could be spotted without optical aid was in 2013 in the constellation Delphinus, so take advantage of this nova while it lasts!

Bottom line: The nova in Cassiopeia named V1405 has flared to magnitude 5.4, allowing observers to spot it without the help of telescopes or binoculars.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3sijthq

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman caught Nova V1405 Cas on May 11, 2021, from Mayhill, New Mexico. He wrote: “Nova V1405 Cassiopeiae has brightened to magnitude 5.4. The nova was magnitude +7.8 since shortly after its discovery in March 2021, but it suddenly brightened to about mag 5.4. Magnitude 5 novas are uncommon. The nova is visible for about an hour before dawn. The open cluster M52 and the Bubble Nebula are also shown in the photo.” Thank you, Eliot!

First spotted in March, Nova V1405 has suddenly flared in brightness over the past week, allowing observers to spot it without binoculars or a telescope. You can see it too, if you observe from a dark-sky site and know just where to look!

Japanese photographer Yuji Nakamura spotted a nova located in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen on March 18, 2021. At that time, this light in our sky – which has been named V1405 Cas – was shining at about magnitude 9.6, much too faint to see with the eye. Just a few days later, though, the nova had brightened to about magnitude 7.6, making it bright enough to be visible with binoculars. Now that the nova is around magnitude 5.5, those with keen eyesight and dark skies can hunt it down without any optical aid at all, though it may help to first locate it with binoculars or a telescope and then your eyes alone. The charts below will help you star hop to the nova.

Cassiopeia is very low on the northern horizon. Your viewing location will have to be free of trees, buildings and hills and free of light pollution, or you can wait until the middle of the night when Cassiopeia rises a bit higher. The nova is between the W shape of Cassiopeia and the house shape that makes up Cepheus. Take the two stars on the right side of Cassiopeia’s W shape and use them to draw a line toward Cepheus. Extend the line for approximately the same distance as the two stars are apart from each other and start looking for a little star cluster known as M52. Then look just off of M52 and use the map to pinpoint the nova. The charts and photos shown here will guide you. The first star chart is for March, but the location of the nova between Cassiopeia and Cepheus has not changed, even though the constellations’ locations have shifted a bit on the sky’s dome.

Follow the bottom 2 stars in the M- or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia to find the new nova. Image via Bob King/ Sky & Telescope.

You can star hop from moderately bright stars to the nova as shown here. Image via Bob King/ Sky & Telescope.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, captured this photo of the nova on May 11, 2021. He wrote: “Nova Cas 21 has brightened dramatically and can now be seen with the unaided eye from a dark-sky site. I captured this image of Nova Cas 21 and its surroundings early this morning. Nova Cas 21 is currently at least as bright as HIP 115395, which is a +5.55-magnitude star.” Thanks, David!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tara Mostofi in California and Alexandru Barbovschi in Moldova collaborated on this image of nova V1405 Cas on March 21, 2021. You’ll see it inside the green square (and inset) on this image. Thank you, Alexandru and Tara!

V1405 Cas is located at right ascension 23h 24m 48s, declination +61° 11′ 15″.

This object is a classical nova, meaning it apparently resulted from interactions in a binary star system, consisting of a white dwarf and a sunlike star. The white dwarf siphons off material from its companion until the white dwarf heats up enough to blast material outward, creating the brighter light that we can spot across space.

Novae are rare. One of the last novae that could be spotted without optical aid was in 2013 in the constellation Delphinus, so take advantage of this nova while it lasts!

Bottom line: The nova in Cassiopeia named V1405 has flared to magnitude 5.4, allowing observers to spot it without the help of telescopes or binoculars.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3sijthq