[vsnet-alert 5399] Re: Nova suspect in Tau

[Brian Skiff <bas@lowell.edu>]

     I have ordered up cutouts of all available sky survey images from the
USNO-Flagstaff pixel server.  It appears almost certain that this is an
extremely red star, since it is near the threshold on three blue plates
(POSS-I blue, two POSS-II J plates), but bright enough to show diffraction
spikes on the far-red POSS-II N plate.  The images will be located at 
the following URLs for 24 hours or so:

  jpg file: http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/tmp/fchaamdEa_se0415.000.jpg  
  jpg file: http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/tmp/fchaamdEa_so0415.000.jpg  
  jpg file: http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/tmp/fchaamdEa_se0416.000.jpg  
  jpg file: http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/tmp/fchaamdEa_so0416.000.jpg  
  jpg file: http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/tmp/fchaamdEa_sj0620.000.jpg  
  jpg file: http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/tmp/fchaamdEa_sf0620.000.jpg  
  jpg file: http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/tmp/fchaamdEa_sn0620.000.jpg  

Look at the last image in the list first to see the far-red (~8000A) image.
I agree that the object is very likely to be the IRAS source Patrick noted,
since it falls well within the position error ellipse and has the IRAS
"colors" of a late-type AGB star.  Given the location behind the Taurus
dark clouds, the star is almost certainly very strongly reddened as well.

\Brian

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