A nova is an astronomical event where a star brightens suddenly and to an unprecedented degree, creating the impression that a new star has appeared where none was before. Hence the name, from nova for "new star". Hideo Nishimura, a Japanese astronomer, has found a nova in the constellation Scutum (the Shield). I was so lucky to locate the nova with my Newton 114 telescope. As the nova has a magnitude of 8.7 to my estimation, the star can be seen with smaller telescopes. Current observations indicate that the star is even getting brighter in the last days ! Information in Dutch and some star maps (overview and detail) can be found on AstroBlog.
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