OJBs Web Site: Observations

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Observation: Nova Vela, May 1999

Title:	Nova Vela
Date:	1999-05-23 NZST
Time:	20.52 NZST
Location:	96 Mornington Road, Dunedin
Equipment:	7x50 binoculars

Description

Observed nova in Vela from 96 Mornington Road.
Sky a bit cloudy but nova easy naked eye object.
Found it approximately 3° from μ Vel.
Appeared about the same magnitude as μ Vel and pale yellow.

Thoughts

The diagram at the top of the page shows my notes for locating the nova. I use the star hopping method, where I start from a known object (δ Crucis in this case) and move to distinctive groups of stars until I reach the object of interest. The large 7s show the field of my binoculars so I know I'm working at the right scale. Using this method its possible to positively locate very dim and difficult objects.