Bright Nova

Bright Nova

 Nova Delphini, which exploded just four days ago in the northern constellation Delphinus, has continued to brighten. With a magnitude of +4.5, it is now easily visible in binoculars even from urban areas if you know where to look. This cactus in Tucson, Arizona, points the way:

 

 

"This is my obligatory southern-Arizona cactus photo of the nova in Delphinus," says photographer Scott Tucker. "It was actually visible to the naked eye at the time."

Novas occur in binary star systems when one star dumps matter onto a companion white dwarf. As the matter piles up on the surface of the white dwarf it heats up, fuses, and explodes, producing a flash of light 50,000 to 100,000 times brighter than the sun. Despite their brightness, most novas are invisible to the unaided eye because they are so far away. Nova Delphini is a rare exception.

Backyard astronomers who wish to see this nova in greater detail should point their GOTO telescopes to coordinates 20:23:30.7, +20:46:06 (J2000). More information and updates are available from Sky and Telescope.

The wiki link to the Constellation can be found at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphinus