Electronic Telegram No. 2796 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION CBAT Director: Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University; 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA 02138; U.S.A. e-mail: cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org) URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network PR LUPI = NOVA LUPI 2011 = PNV J14542000-5505030 Nicholas J. Brown, Two Rocks, Western Australia, reports his discovery of a possible nova (mag 10.2) on two TMax 400 films taken on Aug. 4.73 UT using a 135-mm-f.l. f/2 Canon camera lens. Brown's approximate position for the variable is R.A. = 14h54m20s, Decl. = -55d05'03" (equinox 2000.0); he notes that nothing brighter than mag 11.7 appears on a film that he took on July 5.85. The variable was designated PNV J14542000-5505030 when it was posted on the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage, and based on the spectroscopic reports confirming the object as a nova (see below), it has been assigned the permanent GCVS designation PR Lup by N. N. Samus. Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes, and Giovanni Sostero report that a CCD image taken of PR Lup remotely through the 2.0-m f/10 Ritchey-Chretien "Faulkes Telescope South" (+ Bessel R filter) on Aug. 13.5 shows it at mag 8.4 and at position R.A. = 14h54m23s.09, Decl. = -55d05'11".2 (equinox 2000.0; USNO-B1.0 catalogue reference stars). Guido et al. have posted a color image at website URL http://bit.ly/onysAh, and a comparison of their image with a Digitized Sky Survey R plate from 1999 is posted at http://bit.ly/pUq8jd. Additional magnitudes for PR Lup (visual unless otherwise noted): July 20.042 UT, [11.5 (W. Liller, Vina del Mar, Chile; 85-mm-f.l. Nikon lens + Tech Pan film + orange filter); July 25.989, 11.1 (Liller); Aug. 1.008, 10.4 (Liller); Aug. 8.040, 10.3 (A. Amorim, Florianopolis, Brazil; moonlight); Aug. 8.066, 10.3 (Gonzalo Vargas Beltran, Cochabamba, Bolivia; via E. Waagen, AAVSO); Aug. 8.375, 10.3 (R. Stubbings, Tetoora Road, Victoria, Australia; via Waagen); Aug. 12.443, 9.6 (Joseph Brimacombe, Cairns, Australia; remotely using a 40-cm RCOS telescope + U9000 CCD camera at Macedon Ranges Observatory, Melbourne, Australia; position end figures 23s.06, 11".2; image posted at website URL http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/6041126507/); Aug. 13.988, 8.5 (Liller). F. M. Walter, Stony Brook University, reports that Brown's suspected nova is indeed an "Fe II"-type nova. Photometric and spectroscopic observations were obtained using the SMARTS/Cerro Tololo facilities, starting on Aug. 9 UT. Photometry with the 1.3-m telescope (+ ANDICAM dual-channel photometer) shows maximum light (V = 9.1, K = 6.2) on Aug. 13.02 (+1/-2 days). By Aug. 23.0, the nova had faded to V = 11.2 and K = 8.1. Optical spectroscopy with the 1.5-m telescope (+ RC specrograph) at a variety of resolutions between Aug. 9.0 and 22.0 shows the spectrum of a classical "Fe II"-type nova near maximum light. Near photometric maximum, on Aug. 12.0, the blue spectrum (range 365-540 nm; 0.43-nm resolution) showed strong emission, with P-Cyg absorption, in the Balmer series H-beta through H_11, Ca II K, and the Fe II multiplets 42 and 49. At this resolution, a single absorption component is seen, at a velocity of about -1100 km/s. On Aug. 13.98, H-alpha had an emission equivalent-width of -17.0 nm, with P-Cyg absorption at -1100 km/s. Low-dispersion (1.7-nm resolution) spectra covering the full optical range on Aug. 16.97 and 22.04 show strong emission from O I 630.0-, 777.4-, and 844.6-nm; C II 732.5-nm; and the Ca infrared triplet. As of Aug. 22.0, no helium lines were obvious, and no high-temperature lines had appeared. H. L. Malasan, J. Suherli, and E. Wiyando, Bosscha Observatory, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia; and A. Arai and H. Kawakita, Koyama Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan, report on optical spectroscopic observations (R about 400) of PNV J14542000-5505030 = PR Lup on Aug. 16.6 UT at Bosscha Observatory using a 20-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (+ SBIG DSS7 spectrograph). The spectra exhibit strong H-alpha, H-beta, and Fe II multiplet emissions, suggesting that the variable is a "Fe II"-type classical nova. P-Cygni profiles are absent, and the FWHM of the H-alpha emission is about 1700 km/s. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2011 CBAT 2011 August 28 (CBET 2796) Daniel W. E. Green