Astroblog

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.
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

Printable black and white chart of the eastern evening sky at 18:42 ACST (90 minutes after sunset) as seen from Adelaide, showing the location of Nova V462 Lupi. Similar views will be seen from elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen and print)	Printable black and white chart suitable for use with binoculars of the area around Nova  V462 Lupi. The circle is the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars. The nova is roughly a binocular field from the bright stars beta and delta Lupi, Click to embiggen and print
south-eastern evening sky at 18:42 ACST (90 minutes after sunset) as seen from Adelaide, showing the location of Nova V462 Lupi (circle marker). Similar views will be seen from elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). Click to embiggen	Chart suitable for use with binoculars of the area around Nova V462 Lupi (circle marker).The nova is roughly a binocular field from the bright stars beta and delta Lupi, Click to embiggen.

My image of V462 Lupi taken on 28 June, 19:01 ACST, samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra ƒ/3.4 2s 18.6 mm ISO3200 (5xZoom). Compare to charts above	My image of V462 Lupi labelled

Labels: binocular, nova, telescope

Printable black and white chart of the southern evening sky at 18:42 ACST (90 minutes after sunset) as seen from Adelaide, showing the location of Nova V572 Velorum. Similar views will be seen from elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen and print)	Printable black and white chart suitable for use with binoculars of the area around Nova V572 Velorum. The circle is the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars. The nova is roughly a binocular field from the eta Carina nebula, Click to embiggen and print
southern evening sky at 18:42 ACST (90 minutes after sunset) as seen from Adelaide, showing the location of Nova V572 Velorum (+marker 1). Similar views will be seen from elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). The circle at top left is the position of of nova V462 Lupi. Click to embiggen	Chart suitable for use with binoculars of the area around Nova V572 Velorum (+marker 1in yellow).The nova is roughly a binocular field from the eta Carina nebula, Click to embiggen.

Labels: binocular, nova, telescope

Eastern evening sky at 19:00 as seen from Melbourne, similar views will be seen from elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)	Closeup view of the constellation of Lupus with the location of the nova indicated by the open circle. Map via Wikipedia.

Labels: binocular, nova

Sky chart facing north west on Sunday, March 30 as seen from Adelaide at 06:02 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The location of T CrB is shown with a circle. Similar views will be seen 90 minutes after Sunset elsewhere in Australia.	Printable black and White Sky chart facing north west on Sunday, March 30 as seen from Adelaide at 06:o2 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen and print). The location of T CrB is shown with a dark square The field of view of 10x50 binoculars is shown with circle. Similar views will be seen 90 minutes after Sunset elsewhere in Australia.

Some recent postings about the "Blaze Star" T Coronae Borealis (T Crb) are suggesting it might go Nova Real Soon Now. It hasn't, but spectral indications suggest it may be ready to go "soonish" (where soonish is anywhere between now and November 2025).

Although you need to be up in the early hours of the morning to see it, T CrB goes nova roughly every 80 years, where it flaers from being invisible to the unaided eye to brighter than the brightest star in its constellation (~ magnitude 2).  So its worth while  keeping an eye out for this rare event.

Labels: astrophotography, citizen science, nova, T CrB

Sky chart facing north on Saturday, March 22 as seen from Adelaide at 05:56 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The location of T CrB is shown with a circle. Similar views will be seen 90 minutes after Sunset elsewhere in Australia.	Sky chart facing north on Saturday, March 22 as seen from Adelaide at 05:56 (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Constellation names and lines are shown for clarity.

My image of Corona Borealis taken on 10 August with my Samsung S24 in astrophography mode at 5x zoom. Stars down to magnitude 7.5 are visible. The approximate location of T CrB is shown with a star above Ɛ CrB.	AAVSO chart of Corona Borealis showing the magnitude of surrounding stars. The decimal points have been omitted eg 22 is 2.2, 89 is 8.9

T Coronae borealis (T CrB) did not go Nova Last September as predicted. However, Thuringian State Observatory noticed the emission lines in the spectrum of T CrB have risen sharply, indicating a greatly increased accretion rate, and possibly an outburst is coming soon. See also https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=17041

Unfortunately, Corona Borealis is in the morning sky now, so you have to get up at dark o'clock to see it.

If you look to the North in the morning at astronomical twilight (90 minutes before sunrise), you will see a prominent bright orange star, Arcturus (see top chart), if you look downwards and to the right you will see a dainty circlet of stars. Corona Borealis, the northern crown.

While pretty in its own right, it houses a most unusual star, T Coronae borealis (T CrB), also known as the blaze star. T CrB is a recurrent nova, a binary system where gas from a red giant star accretes on a white dwarf companion. Eventually the gas builds up to a density where a nuclear explosion occurs and this is seen as  a nova. 

A recurrent nova is one where there is a (semi) regular patter of repeated outbursts. T CrB seems to erupt every 80 years, with the last in 1946. Recent patterns of brightening and dimming look like the pre outburst phase of the 1946 eruption. It was predicted that T CrB may go nova between August and the end of September 2024. That didn't happen, but the new spectral changes may herald the long awaited outburts

When that happens, T CrB will rapidly rise to from its current magnitude 10 (well below eye or binocular visibility)  around magnitude 2 about the same brightness as Alphecca, 𝛂 Coronae Borealis (see bottom left-hand panel), the brightest star in the constellation. It will only remain above unaided eye visibility for a week or so. 

T CrB is located on the right-hand side to the circlet, just above Ɛ CrB (see bottom left-hand panel) where the line of stars turn down, there are no other bright stars in the region, so when it erupts it will be easily visible.

The challenge:  

Take an image of Corona Borealis every clear morning during March-April awaiting the eruption. You will need a stack of ~ 10 images at high ISO of around 1 second duration, then stacked in appropriate software to pick up the faint stars. It would be best if you zoomed in so that Corona Borealis occupies most of the camera field (with a bit of space on the right-hand side so you don’t miss out on T CrB. That way hopefully you will catch not only the eruption, but the fade as well, doing a bit of backyard astrophysics. 

Be patient, after a few night astrophotography you will become familiar with the stars and will easily see when T CrB erupts. 

You can also follow the T CRB Nova Watch on Space weather (in the the righthand panel). Currently magnitude 10.

Labels: astrophotography, citizen science, nova, T CrB

Sky chart facing north on Saturday, August 17 as seen from Adelaide at 19:11 ACST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). The location of T CrB is shown with a circle. Similar views will be seen 90 minutes after Sunset elsewhere in Australia.	Sky chart facing north on Saturday, August 17 as seen from Adelaide at 19:11 ACST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Constellation names and lines are shown for clarity.

My image of Corona Borealis taken on 10 August with my Samsung S24 in astrophography mode at 5x zoom. Stars down to magnitude 7.5 are visible. The approximate location of T CrB is shown with a star above Ɛ CrB.	AAVSO chart of Corona Borealis showing the magnitude of surrounding stars. The decimal points have been omitted eg 22 is 2.2, 89 is 8.9

If you look to the North at astronomical twilight (90 minutes after sunset), you will see a prominent bright orange star, Arcturus (see top chart), if you look downwards and to the right you will see a dainty circlet of stars. Corona Borealis, the northern crown.

While pretty in its own right, it houses a most unusual star, T Coronae borealis (T CrB), also known as the blaze star. T CrB is a recurrent nova, a binary system where gas from a red giant star accretes on a white dwarf companion. Eventually the gas builds up to a density where a nuclear explosion occurs and this is seen as  a nova. 

A recurrent nova is one where there is a (semi) regular patter of repeated outbursts. T CrB seems to erupt every 80 years, with the last in 1946. Recent patterns of brightening and dimming look like the pre outburst phase of the 1946 eruption, and it is predicted that T CrB may go nova between now and the end of September this year. 

When that happens, T CrB will rapidly rise to from its current magnitude 10 (well below eye or binocular visibility)  around magnitude 2 about the same brightness as Alphecca, 𝛂 Coronae Borealis (see bottom left-hand panel), the brightest star in the constellation. It will only remain above unaided eye visibility for a week or so. 

T CrB is located on the right-hand side to the circlet, just above Ɛ CrB (see bottom left-hand panel) where the line of stars turn down, there are no other bright stars in the region, so when it erupts it will be easily visible.

The challenge:  

Take an image of Corona Borealis every clear night during Ausgust-September awaiting the eruption. You will need a stack of ~ 10 images at high ISO of around 1 second duration, then stacked in appropriate software to pick up the faint stars. It would be best if you zoomed in so that Corona Borealis occupies most of the camera field (with a bit of space on the right-hand side so you don’t miss out on T CrB. That way hopefully you will catch not only the eruption, but the fade as well, doing a bit of backyard astrophysics. 

Be patient, after a few night astrophotography you will become familiar with the stars and will easily see when T CrB erupts. 

You can also follow the T CRB Nova watch on Space weather (in the the righthand panel). Currently magnitude 19.

Labels: astrophotography, citizen science, nova, T CrB

Black and white printable Spotters map for the Nova in Scorpius, at 5:14 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise). Similar views will be seen in the rest of Australia at 90 minutes before sunrise. The Nova is in the "sting" of Scorpius, close to Lambda Sco. Click to embiggen and print.	Black and white printable binocular map for the Nova in Scorpius, use the spotter map to locate the general area then use this map for detailed location. The Nova is in the "sting" of Scorpius, close to l Scorpii and u Scorpii. Click to embiggen and print.

A bright Nova has been reported in Scorpius.PNV J17261813-3809354 was discovered by Andrew Pearce (Nedlands, W. Australia) on 2024 Feb. 09.8438 UT. It has been confirmed spectroscopically as a classical galactic nova. The nova is currently magnitude 6.4, just below unaided eye visibility, but easily seen in binoculars, see http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/unconf/followups/J17261813-3809354.html for the details. You can get printable magnitude comparison charts at the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter https://app.aavso.org/vsp/

You will have to get up early in the morning to see it though. It doesn't rise until 1 am. 

Labels: nova

Western sky as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACST the position of RS Oph is marked with a circle.Click to embiggen.	Approximate binocular view of the area around RS Oph the position of RS Oph is marked with a circle.. Click to embiggen.

The recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi is in outburst for the first time in 15 years. This is its first outburst since February 2006, brightening from magnitude 12 to an unaided eye visible (but still relatively dim) magnitude 5. Located between the bright stars Antares and Altair, near mu (μ), nu (ν) and tau (τ) Ophiuchi (see charts above) it will be readily visible in binoculars and just visible to the unaided eye. 

Over the coming week it will fade back below unaided eye visibility, and it will be interesting to watch the progress of its dimming.

Chart of the stars around RS Oph (black rectangle) showing magnitude labels [684] mean magnitude 6.84 etc. click to embiggen and print. Use the charts above to orient yourself.

Labels: nova

Sky looking south as seen from Adelaide at astronomical twilight (90 minutes after sumset). Yje nova is almost directly between the Southern Cross and the false cross. The nova is indicated by the yellow star (click to bingen)	Printable black and white chart suitable for use with binoculars. showing the area around the nova. The large circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars, the small that of a 24 mm eyepiece with a 114 mm reflector. click to embiggen and print.

There is a bright nova visible in Carina (ASASSN-18FV), well placed for Southern hemisphere observers, recent reports suggest that the magnitude is between 6 and 7 (just visible to the unaided eye to easily binocular visible). I have not been able to confirm the magnitudes because of cloud.

UPDATE: The nova is roughly between the top star of the false cross and delta crucis near a pair of fairly obvious brightish stars that form a triangle with the very obvious Southern Pleiades (just at the bottom of the chart). These two stars form an obvious triangle with another dimmer star, just below this dimmer star is a triangular asterism, and the nova is next to that. However, it is in a very crowded field close to a magnitude 5 star,  and distinguishing them may be difficult.

The nova may fade, or may brighten further, you can find the most recent observations here
https://www.aavso.org/apps/webobs/results/?star=ASASSN-18FV
AAVSO notice
https://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-626
Astronomers telegrams describing the nova
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=11456
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=11460
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=11457
Tip of te hat to Daniel Fischer for the heads up.

Labels: binoculars, nova

Location of Galactic nova ASASSN-17hx as seen from Adelaide at midnight. It is just above gamma Scutum (indicated on the map.), between gamma Scut and V450 Scut. Click to embiggen

Galactic nova ASASSN-17hx has brightened remarkably since it was first seen at magnitude 12.5, it is now magnitude 8-9. It may have peaked, and observations are reguested to follow this bright nova.

The Nova is definitely bright enough to be seen in small telescopes, and may even be picked up in binoculars from dark sky locations.  Watching over the next few days will reveal if it brightens more or fades.

The nova is in Scutum between Gamma Sct (highlighted on chart which is suitable for binocular use)  and V50 Sct as indicated by the yellow star. click to embiggen.

It is  visible from the southern hemisphere and Australia. from astronomical twlight (and hour and a half after sunset to astronomical twight. It is higest and best for observation around 10 pm local time.

The Moon is setting around midnight so viewing and imaging is best after Moon set. However, over the coming days this means the nova will be closer to the horizon.

Black and white printable chart suitable for telescope use. Star magnitudes to 10 are indicated. The frame is the field of view of a 35 mm camera on a reflector scope. Click to embiggen and print.

The J2000 location of the NOVAis RA = 18:31:45.918, Dec = -14:18:55.57


Black and white printable chart suitable for binocular use (equivalent to the photorealistic chart above). Click to embiggen and print.

Labels: nova

Nova Sgr 2016. Stack of 11 x 15 second 400 ASA exposures, taken with the Canon IXUS on 9 November 2016 at 21:24 ACDST. Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker.Click to Embiggen.	Chart of the sky in the "teapot" of Sagittarius for comparison stars. the large circle is the field of view of 10x 50 binoculars. Click to embiggen.

Got a much better look at the bright nova in Sagittarius, PNV J18205200-2822100, which has gone above the unaided eye brightness threshold of magnitude 6.0. This time I got to see it at astronomical twilight, when it was still relatively high above the horizon, and there was less cloud about this time.

still pretty clear, with better comparison stars I estimate it to be magnitude 5.9 (maybe a smidgen brighter). It will be interesting to keep monitoring over the next week to see if it fades or brightens some more.

Labels: nova, unaided eye

Western horizon as seen from Adelaide an hour and a half after sunset, the location of the nova is indicated with a yellow star. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at equivalent local times. Click to embiggen.	High power view, simulating a binocular view of the area around the nova. It is close to a star of similar magnitude. A second nova, visible only in telescopes, is down the bottom of the field. Click to embiggen.

While I was out of commission with colds/flu's two nova exploded in Sagittarius, both near the teapot of Sagittarius. One, PNV J18205200-2822100,has been slowly increasing in brightness and has now broken the unaided eye brightness threshold of magnitude 6.0, with the latest report from New Zealand of 5.4 (clouded out here at the moment). PNV J18205200-2822100 (hereafter Nova Sag 2016) is in the "teapot" of Sagittarius between Kaus Borealis (lambda Sagittarii and Kaus Media (delta Sagittarii) and should be fairly easy to pick up.

Unaided eye nova are not common, so it is well worth going out and having a look, although the waxing Moon may interfere a bit.

Printable black and white chart of the location of PNV J18205200-2822100 (Nov Sag 2016), the large circle is the field of view of 10x 50 binoculars. The star next to Nov Sag 2016 is magnitude 6. Also shown is TCP J18102829-2729590 (Nov Sag 2 2016) Currently magnitude 9 and only visible in telescopes. Click to embiggen and print.

Labels: nova, unaided eye

Nova Lupus (ASASSN-16kt) imaged from my back yard using a Canon IXUS. 10 x 15 second 400 ASA shots stacked in DeepSkyStacker and contrast adjusted and cropped in ImageJ. Click to embiggen.

Despite rubbish conditions (low haze and close to te horizon, that's the roof of the house at the bottom) I was able to pick up the nova. compare this camera image with the simulations at this page.

Despite the less than ideal conditions form comparison stars I estimate the visual magnitude to be between 6.7 and 6.8, definitely not less than 6.9 (comparison stars TYC 7847-2084-1, TYC 8295-1806-1, TYC 7848-731-1, TYC 7849-1310-1, TYC 7849-2514-1)

Labels: astrophotography, nova

Location of Nova Lupi. The image shows the South-Western horizon as seen from Adelaide an hour and a half after sunset. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at equivalent times. Click to embiggen	The image shows a simulated binocular view of nova Lupi (it will not look like a bright yellow ball at all, but more like a dim star) just above epsilon Lupi. Click to embiggen
Black and white printable chart of the western horizon at 9:30 pm. The Click to embiggen and print (use with redlight torches so as to not destroy your night vision).	Black and white printable chart suitable for use with binoculars or telescopes. The large circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars.Click to embiggen and print (use with redlight torches so as to not destroy your night vision).

Astronomical telegrams have reported a bright probable nova ASASSN-16kt not far from epsilon Lupi at RA 15:29:01.82, DEC -44:49:40.89 (J2000.0) at magnitude 9.1. The nova has rapidly brightened and is now almost unaided eye magnitude according to the latest astronomical telegram with its reported magnitude between between 6.9 B and 6.3V.

UPDATE: NOPE found it on camera images, definitely there at around mag 6. It should be readily visible in binoculars, but by the time I went out tonight (9:30 pm ACST) it was just above the roof tops and I could not identify it. It is possible the nova may be fading already (although unlikely, alternatively, my rubbish eyesight and horizon murk obscured it). The best time to view is at astronomical twilight, when it is still high above the horizon.

A bright nova is a treat, so get out and have a look tomorrow (those of you not caught up in the "storm of a generation")

Labels: binocular, nova

Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2 in the lid of the teapot of Sagittarius. This is a stack of 10x15 second exposures, ASA 400, 3x Zoom with my Canon IXUS, taken on 4 April at 6:20 am, click to embiggen	24 March, stack of 8 images, same conditions a the 4th ecept taken at at 5:10 am, click to embiggen.

 Light curve of  Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2. It had faded but has now substantialy rebrightened. Althoug still a bit below the peak it is now eaily unaided eye visible again

Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. still teases me with only occasional chances of images. This morning however, even with twilight advancing, the nova was very obvious with averted vision.

A widefield image for context. This is a stack of 10x15 second exposures, ASA 400, with my Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen.

This nova is well worth watching still, although Moonlight will now make visual observing harder.

Previous images here. Spotters charts here and here.

Labels: astrophotography, binocular, nova, unaided eye