Thursday, August 27, 2026
Alert! Nova Sge 2026, new "bright" nova
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| Location of Nova Sge 2026, looking north from Adelaide at 21:39 ACST. The location of the Nova is indicated by the circle. The nova is around magnitude 7. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the same equivalent time. Click to embiggen. | Approximate 10x50 binocular views of Nova Sge 2026, looking north from Adelaide at 21:39 ACST. The location of the nova is indicated by the circle. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the same equivalent time. Click to embiggen. |
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| Black and white Spotter chart for the location of the new nova in Sagittae. View is to the north is when the Nova is at it's highest as seen from Adelaide at 9:39 ACST. Similar views will be seen form the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time. The nova location is indicated by the black square with a circle inside it. The larger circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars | Black and white Binocular chart for the location of the new nova in Sagittae. The circle is the field of View of 10x50 binoculars is when the Nova is at it's highest as seen from Adelaide ay 9:39 ACST. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time. The nova location is indicated by the black square with a circle inside it. Delta Sge is a handy guide to the Nova. |
A new "bright" nova has been reported in the constellation of Saggitae (the Arrow). The Nova is "bright" in the sense that it is magnitude 7, just below unaided eye observability, bu easily seen in binoculars or a small telescope. People have successfully imaged it with simple point and shoot cameras and phone cameras (with a little bit of fiddling about with brightness and contrast).
The constellation is dime, all of its stars are aorund magnitude 4 (about as bright as Gamma Crucis). looking north at around 21:30 ACST (22:00 AEST), You will immediately see bright Altair towards the Zenith, about a binocular width below you can see see the distinct triangle from of Saggitae.
The nova is close to Delta (δ) Sge, on a line between Sham (α Sge) and Delta (δ) Sge. You will need to let your eye adjust to the dark to see it poperly, and the nearby bright moon may add substantially to your difficulty. but it is work a try.
Downloadable, printable PDF charts are here, Spotters Chart, Binocular Chart.
Labels: binocular, nova, Nova Sge 2026
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