(fwd) Nova Sgr 1994

>From bas@lowell.edu Sat Mar  5 12:26:41 1994
Date: Fri, 04 Mar 1994 19:30:06 -0700 (MST)
From: bas@lowell.edu (Brian Skiff account lowell)
To: allied/G=Tom/S=Polakis/O=AEROSPACE/OU=GED@mhs.attmail.com,
        gmh%astrophysics.starlink.rutherford.ac.uk@cunyvm.cuny.edu,
        nova@nova.la.asu.edu, rwa%srf.rgo.ac.uk@cunyvm.cuny.edu,
        w3whw@gibbs.gsfc.nasa.gov
Message-ID: <Mar17@hoge.baba.hajime.jp>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Status: R

Nova folks,
     Here are results from measuring two candidate objects on the POSS-I
prints near the position of Nova Sgr 1994 reported by Pamela Kilmartin.  Since
she evidently used the B1950 SAO catalogue for the reference net, the
uncertainty in the position may be fairly large.  The brighter POSS candidate
appears on both prints, and is fairly red, but not out of the ordinary for a
star this faint in this part of the sky, although the region is relatively
free of foreground dust---the stars are smoothly distributed here looking out
past the bottom of the galactic bulge.  The fainter star appears only on the E
print, and is thus probably similarly red.
     I measured 30 PPM stars in a ~2-deg square containing the nova.  The
fit was done using a full cubic with mean residuals of 4-5 microns (~0".3) in
in each axis (eyeball settings!); one star was dropped from the solution on
the E print, four on the O print.  The equinox 2000 positions are summarized
below; mine are J2000/FK5.


N Sgr 94  18 50 36.65  -21 23 28.5   (B2000?, Kilmartin)

                                     mag
Star 1    18 50 36.83  -21 23 29.5   16. R
          18 50 36.77  -21 23 29.1   18. B

Star 2    18 50 36.49  -21 23 27.8   19. R


     It is tempting to make the identification of the nova with star 1, but
without additional measures of the nova and the candidate, I'm not willing
to make wagers.  It would be useful if those with access to UK and ESO Schmidt
archives could look for fainter precursor candidates.
     Closed-circuit for Kilmartin:  I'll be pleased to supply you with PPM or
ACRS star lists for this field if you'd like to re-reduce the measurements of
your plates.  Need plate date, image scale, and field size.
\Brian Skiff