Nova Sco 2014 = V1534 Sco - The close companion

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Wed, 07/15/2015 - 19:38

Nova Sco 2014 was recently named as V1534 Sco.
It is a symbiotic system that underwent a fast nova outburst so it is very likely a recurrent nova (NR).

Looking at the star's light curve two things become evident:

1) As the variable returned to quiescence, observers are either measuring the combined light of the nova and a 16.3 Vmag. companion 5" to its South or the light of the companion alone.

2) Noone has observed this interesting star this season!!

The nova counterpart has mag. 17 in R but it will be much fainter in V since the light of the red giant dominates at minimum.

So observers are encouraged to observe this system now. Be careful to separate it from the 16.3 mag. companion.

And talking about stars with companions, it was a good time to update the file that we keep online with a list of variable stars with companions.
The most recent version can be found here.

Cheers,
Sebastian