Mongolia | Scorpius | Novæ

I usually get up at 4:00 a.m. and before engaging in morning orisons go out on the balcony of my apartment in the exclusive Sansar District of Ulaan Baatar for a perusal of the pre-dawn sky. It is a nice time of night. Most late-night revelers have already turned in, and the neighborhood is quiet. There is very little traffic on the streets. A perfect time for contemplating the Heavens. This month’s sky has proffered some intriguing sights.

Map courtesy of Sky & Telescope

On February 4 a nova appeared in Scorpius, which in the pre-dawn now looms just about the eastern flanks of Bogd Khan Uul, the big mountain south of Ulaan Baatar. According to Sky & Telescope magazine:

Nova Scorpii 2007 wasn't a big deal when two Japanese nova hunters, Yuji Nakamura and Yukio Sakurai, independently discovered it at 9th magnitude on February 4th. But it brightened and brightened, peaking at magnitude 3.8 on Friday the 16th. As of Saturday morning the 24th it had faded to about 5.1, dimming now by 0.1 magnitude per day . It had also changed from white to orange-red, typical behavior for classical novae. That still puts it in naked-eye range if you have a dark sky, and binoculars show it from anywhere.

It was probably not possible to spot this nova with the naked eye here in Ulaan Baatar because of ambient light from the city. I may have spotted it with 10x binoculars, I am not sure. In any case, Jupiter (Mongolian = Багхасбадь) and Antares make a lovely sight in the morning sky.

Then—you’re not going to believe this—a few days later another nova was spotted in Scorpius:

Yuji Nakamura, codiscoverer of the first one, found the likely nova at magnitude 9.3 on two CCD images taken at February 19.86 Universal Time. A day later, at February 20.85 UT, K. Itagaki confirmed the new star; it's at right ascension 16h 56m 59s, declination –35° 21.8' (2000.0 coordinates). He judged it to be magnitude 8.8. "Nova Scorpii 2007 #2" (which has just been named V1281 Sco) was also independently discovered by Hideo Nishimura on the morning of the 20th Japanese time; he called it magnitude 9.2.”

What in the name of all that’s holy is going on in the Heavens? Remember the dictum, “As Above, So Below.” Stay tuned, the Ides of March are soon upon us! “Et tu, Brute?”