Electronic Telegram No. 2051 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html POSSIBLE NOVAE IN M81 Kamil Hornoch, Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov; and Ondrej Pejcha, Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, report their discovery of two possible novae in the galaxy M81 on co-added 360-s Sloan-r' CCD frames taken by Pejcha with RETROCAM on the 2.4-m Hiltner telescope at MDM observatory on Nov. 24.540 UT. The new objects are visible on single 60-s images used for the co-added image. Images taken with the same instrumentation on Nov. 25.479 and 25.484 confirmed the presence of both new objects, which are not present on numerous archive images from the 2.54-m Isaac Newton Telescope, the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope, the 4-m Mayall telescope, and the 8.2-m Subaru telescope, down to limiting magnitudes as faint as Sloan r' = 23.3, R = 23.4, and V = 23.8. Available Sloan r' magnitudes for possible nova M81N 2009-11a, measured by Hornoch: Nov. 24.540 UT, 20.6 +/- 0.15; 25.479, 20.5 +/- 0.15. 2009-11a is located at R.A. = 9h55m21s.89, Decl. = +69o03'49".8 (equinox 2000.0), which is 60".5 west and 5".3 south of the center of M81. Available Sloan r' magnitudes for possible nova M81N 2009-11b: Nov. 24.540, 22.0 +/- 0.2; 25.484, 22.1 +/- 0.2. M81N 2009-11b is located at R.A. = 9h54m57s.48, Decl. = +69o06'43".5 (equinox 2000.0), which is 191" west and 168" north of the center of M81. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2009 CBAT 2009 November 26 (CBET 2051) Daniel W. E. Green