A new nova, appears in the northern constellation Cassiopeia, seen with binoculars and small telescopes, but this transient object will not linger for long. Here’s how to spot Nova V1405 Cas before it’s too late.
Amateur astronomer Yuji Nakamura from Kameyama City, Japan spotted de nova on March 18 at 7:10 pm local time and promptly reported its discovery to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Astronomers using the Seimei telescope at Kyoto University in Okayama Prefecture confirmed the nova at 4:40 AM the next day.
“This observation was carried out just half a day after the discovery and showed a fruitful collaboration between amateur astronomers and researchers,” the NAOJ announced in a pronunciation“Because we cannot predict when and in which direction novae will occur, discoveries by amateur astronomers contribute significantly to our understanding of the phenomena.”
Designated as Nova V1405 Cas, the object was initially detected at a magnitude of 9.6 (too dim to see with the naked eye), but became significantly brighter in the days following its discovery. Such as EarthSky reports, the nova now glows around magnitude 7.6, making it visible to binoculars and small telescopes and possibly the naked eye (humans can see celestial objects from a magnitude of about 6.5, but humans may even be able to see the nova without equipment if the conditions are just right
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And yes, you have to do your best to see it if you can. Novae of this type, where nuclear explosions cause the spectacular brightening of white dwarf stars, are common in the Milky Way, but visible novas are relatively rare. One of the last novae to the naked eye, V1369 Cen, happened in 2013 and was only visible in the southern hemisphere. Nova V1405 Cas is a temporary object, and it will be fade over the next few weeks and months.
EarthSky provides detailed information on how best to spot V1405 Cas, but very simple, you need to locate the constellation Cassiopeia first, which can be seen above the horizon if you look northwest after the sun sets (use a phone app like Sky Guide to help you locating celestial objects). Then use the bottom two stars in Cassiopeia to draw a line to the right “about the same distance the two stars are apart and look for a small star cluster known as M 52”, EarthSky recommends. From here you should be able to see the nova, which will clearly not appear on star charts. Sky & telescope recommends nightfall or just before sunrise as the best times to view the new nova.
V1405 Cas should not be confused with a Type Ia supernova, as it is not a star that just exploded. This is a classic nova, involving a white dwarf and a main sequence star trapped in a tight mutual orbit. The small, dense white dwarf pulls hydrogen away from its companion, and this hydrogen keeps getting more compact and warmer. Ultimately, nuclear fusion is activated, causing the white dwarf to glow 50,000 to 100,000 times brighter than normal. The white dwarf survives these surface explosions and the process begins again.