As I had already mentioned to Gianluca the object in question is very likely a red star and not a nova. The object is visible on Second Generation DSS images as follows: red 1989 Nov. 5 mag 14.8: 04:21:12.23 +16:26:15.6 (J2000.0) blue 1990 Jan. 24 mag 20 04:21:12.24 +16:26:15.8 (J2000.0) (coordinates found by clicking on the FITS images) No ROSAT source sufficiently close. SIMBAD finds the following nearby IRAS source: IRAS 04183+1619 04:21:14.2 +16:26:22 (J2000.0) The IRAS Faint Source Catalog puts it closer to the position obtained by Gianluca (04:21:12.13 +16:26:16.7): IRAS F04183+1619 04:21:13.2 +16:26:19 (J2000.0) All in all I think the object is most likely a (very) red star (possibly variable). Regards, Patrick