March 21, 2018

Event: Nova in Carina - ASASSN-18fv

Discovered by: All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN)

Discovery magnitude: brighter than magnitude 10 V (image was saturated)

Discovery date: 2018 March 20.32 UT

Coordinates (2000.0): R.A. 10 36 13.71 Decl. -59 35 55.1 (from VSX)

Spectra: Spectroscopy indicating that ASASSN-18fv is a classical nova brightening and in the optically thick (Fe curtain) phase was obtained by P. Luckas (ATel #11460) on 2018 March 21.49 UT with an Alpy600 spectrograph having a resolution of about 540 in the range 3800-7300A and using a Atik414 CCD.

Earlier spectroscopy by J. Strader et al. (ATel #11456) had not ruled out a galactic nova, but it was thought the transient might be a large outburst of a young stellar object.

Observing recommendations: Observations of all types (visual, CCD, DSLR, PEP, spectroscopy) and multiple bands as instrumentation permits are strongly encouraged as the nova evolves.

Observations reported to the AAVSO:

2018 March 15.34 UT, <17.0 V (ASAS-SN; ATel #11454);

20.32, >10 V (brighter than 10 V (saturated); ASAS-SN, discovery; ATel #11454);

21.44380, 6.5 (R. Stubbings, Tetoora Road, VIC, Australia);

21.47, 7.19 B (M. Brown et al., Hutton-Westfold Observatory, Monash University; ATel #11457);

21.47, 6.62 V (M. Brown et al.; ATel #11457);

21.47847, 7.4 (A. Pearce, Nedlands, W. Australia);

21.48819, 7.2 (Pearce);

21.54653, 7.1 (Pearce);

21.634, 5.9: (N. Brown, Two Rocks, W. Australia);

Charts: Charts with a comparison star sequence for ASASSN-18fv may be created using the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter (VSP). It is recommended that observers use the binocular chart option if creating an 'a' or 'b' scale chart because there are so many comp stars in the region. Also, we suggest that observers choose the option not to display other variables.

Sebastian Otero notes that a good binocular chart can be obtained using a 300 arc minutes field of view and limiting magnitude 9.0. He provides a link to such a chart:

https://www.aavso.org/apps/vsp/chart/?fov=297.0&star=ASASSN-18fv&orientation=visual&maglimit=9.0&resolution=150&binoc=on&north=down&east=right&type=chart&special=binoc

Submit observations: Please submit observations to the AAVSO International Database using the name ASASSN-18FV. Once a GCVS name is announced in an IAU Circular or CBET, please use that name.

AAVSO Forums: ASASSN-18fv is the topic of the AAVSO Time Sensitive Alerts forum thread https://www.aavso.org/bright-nova-carina and the AAVSO Novae forum thread https://www.aavso.org/asassn-18fv-probable-nova-10-mag-or-brighter-carina

Notes:

a. Unless otherwise noted and except for observations reported to the AAVSO, the information in this Alert Notice is taken from ATels #11454 (K. Z. Stanek et al.), #11456 (J. Strader et al.), #11457 (M. Brown et al.), and #11460 (P. Luckas).

b. Stanek et al. (ATel #11454) note that no outbursts or variability were seen at this location on earlier ASAS-SN images since coverage of the location began in February 2016.

c. Strader et al. (ATel#11456) report that the nova matches to within 0.1" a star in the Gaia DR1 catalog, which has J2000 position end figures 15.4138s 53.648". This star is also present in VPHAS+ DR2 catalog (Drew et al 2014, MNRAS, 440, 2036), with g~20.1 and r ~ 19.5. Magnitude calculations yield g=7.80, r=7.27, i=7.19, B=8.07, V=7.45 for the nova, and imply that the object has brightened by at least -12.3 mag in g.

Congratulations to the ASAS-SN team on this discovery!

This AAVSO Alert Notice was compiled by Elizabeth O. Waagen.

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https://www.aavso.org/apps/donate/ </s> Following the posting on the ATel #11454 about the discovery by All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae survey () of a new transient source, Carina (ASAS-SN Designation: ASASSN-18fv) I performed some follow-up of this object through a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD from MPC Code Q62 (iTelescope Observatory, Siding Spring).On images taken on March 23.4, 2018 I can confirm the presence of an optical counterpart with R-filtered CCD magnitude +5.7 at coordinates:R.A. = 10 36 15.42, Decl.= -59 35 53.7(equinox 2000.0; UCAC-4 catalogue reference stars).Below you can see my confirmation image (single 20-sec exposure through a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD), click on it for a bigger version:While below you can see a wide-field color image (90 second exposures) I obtained on March 23.4, 2018 through a Takahashi SKY90 Apochromatic Refractor f5/6 + Color CCD. In the imageis visible at the centre of the field together with part of the Carina Nebula (click on it for a bigger version):This transient was discovered using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" telescope in CTIO, Chile of ASAS-SN survey on images obtained on UT 2018-03-20.32 at V<10 2018-03-16.32="" also="" asas-sn="" asassn-18fv="" at="" detected="" detection="" no="" on="" possibly="" saturated="" starting="" ut="" v="">17.0) of this object in subtracted images taken on UT 2018-03-15.34 and before by the same survey. No previous outbursts or variability are detected at the position of ASASSN-18fv since ASAS-SN started observing this location in February 2016.According to Atel #11467 pre-discovery images have been identified on images obtained by, an array of 6-cm telescopes continuously monitoring 8000 square degrees of sky at 2-minute cadence from CTIO, Chile. The transient is not detected at UT 2018-03-16.0316 with an upper-limit of 11.9 +/- 0.1 mag (g'). Beginning at UT 2018-03-16.227, they detected a new source at 10.21 +/- 0.05 mag (g'). (click on the images below for a bigger version).An animation showing a comparison between my confirmation image and the archive POSS2/UKSTU Red plate (1991-02-10). Click here for a bigger version.Spectroscopy by P. Luckas (see ATel #11460 ) seems to indicate that ASASSN-18fv is a classical nova brightening and in the optically thick (Fe curtain) phase.But according to L. Izzo et al. ( ATel #11468 ): "The lack of a strong blue continuum, that is however typical of classical nova outburst, and the low expansion velocities suggest a possible different nature for this object. The presence of many narrow absorptions also suggests a similarity with other peculiar explosions, like the luminous red variable V4332 Sgr (Martini et al. 1999), the possible luminous red novae V838 Mon and V1309 Sco (Tylenda et al. 2011, Mason et al. 2010) or the 'helium-flash' explosion observed in the Sakurai object (Duerbeck and Benetti 1996)". Doubts about the nova nature of this object were expressed also by J. Strader et al. ( ATel #11456 </s> How bright will Nova Carinae 2018 become? The new nova was discovered only last week. Although novas occur frequently throughout the universe, this nova, cataloged as ASASSN-18fv, is so unusually bright in the skies of Earth that it is now easily visible through binoculars in the southern hemisphere. Identified by the arrow, the nova occurs near the direction of the picturesque Carina Nebula.

A nova is typically caused by a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf star that is accreting matter from a binary companion, although details of this outburst are currently unknown. Both professional and amateur astronomers will be monitoring this unusual stellar outburst in the coming weeks, looking to see how Nova Carinae 2018 evolves, including whether it becomes bright enough to be visible to the unaided eye. </s> For the first time, an object in our solar system has been found more than 100 times farther than Earth is from the sun.

The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced the discovery Monday, calling the object 2018 VG18. But the researchers who found it are calling it “Farout.”

They believe the spherical object is a dwarf planet more than 310 miles in diameter, with a pinkish hue. That color has been associated with objects that are rich in ice, and given its distance from the sun, that isn’t hard to believe. Its slow orbit probably takes more than 1,000 years to make one trip around the sun, the researchers said.

The distance between the Earth and the sun is an AU, or astronomical unit — the equivalent of about 93 million miles. Farout is 120 AU from the sun. Eris, the next most distant object known, is 96 AU from the sun. For reference, Pluto is 34 AU away.

The object was found by the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Scott S. Sheppard, the University of Hawaii’s David Tholen and Northern Arizona University’s Chad Trujillo — and it’s not their first discovery.

The team has been searching for a super-Earth-size planet on the edge of our solar system, known as Planet Nine or Planet X, since 2014. They first suggested the existence of this possible planet in 2014 after finding “Biden” at 84 AU. Along the way, they have discovered more distant solar system objects suggesting that the gravity of something massive is influencing their orbit.

Farout was found using the Japanese Subaru 8-meter telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea in November. Follow-up observations with Carnegie’s Las Campanas Observatory’s Magellan telescope in Chile determined its path, brightness, and color.

“This discovery is truly an international achievement in research using telescopes located in Hawaii and Chile, operated by Japan, as well as by a consortium of research institutions and universities in the United States,” Trujillo said in a statement. “With new wide-field digital cameras on some of the world’s largest telescopes, we are finally exploring our Solar System’s fringes, far beyond Pluto.”

In October, the team announced the discovery of “the Goblin” at 80 AU; it’s so named because the distant solar system object was first spotted near Halloween.

It’s unlikely that these objects are influenced by the gravity of gas giants Neptune and Uranus because they never get close enough to them — which indicates that something else is determining their orbits.

Farout’s orbit is yet to be determined.

“2018 VG18 is much more distant and slower moving than any other observed Solar System object so it will take a few years to fully determine its orbit,” Sheppard said in a statement. “But it was found in a similar location on the sky to the other known extreme Solar System objects, suggesting it might have the same type of orbit that most of them do. The orbital similarities shown by many of the known small, distant Solar System bodies was the catalyst for our original assertion that there is a distant, massive planet at several hundred AU shepherding these smaller objects.” </s> A team of astronomers has discovered the most extreme trans-Neptunian object in the outer reaches of the Solar System. Dubbed “Farout,” the object is more than 120 times farther from the Sun than Earth is. Excitingly, given preliminary estimates about its size, it could actually be a dwarf planet—but it’s still too small to qualify as the elusive Planet X.



The newly discovered object was announced earlier today by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. Many more years of observations will be required to fully characterize the object and its orbital path, but the IAU has added it to its database under the provisional name 2018 VG18, along with its coordinates and observational notes. Farout, as it’s been nicknamed, was discovered by astronomer Scott S. Sheppard from the Carnegie Institution for Science and his colleagues at the University of Hawaii and Northern Arizona University.

Farout was first observed on November 10, 2018 by astronomers using the Japanese Subaru 8-meter telescope located atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The object was re-observed in early December with the Magellan telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. These multiple observations, in addition to confirming the object, were used to establish its path across the night sky, along with its size, brightness, and color.

This extreme trans-Neptunian object is about 120 astronomical units (AU) from Earth, where 1 AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun (about 92 million miles, or 149 million kilometers). Farout is so far out that light from the Sun takes 16 hours and 40 minutes to travel the 11-billion-mile (18-billion-kilometer) distance.



“2018 VG18 is the first object found beyond 100 AU in our Solar System,” Sheppard told Gizmodo. “It moves so slow, that it will take a few years to see enough motion of the object to determine its orbit around the Sun.”

Sheppard and his colleagues wouldn’t be surprised if a single year on Farout lasts more than 1,000 Earth years.

Pluto, by comparison, is about 34 AU from the Sun, so Farout is 3.5 times more distant. Other extreme trans-Neptunian objects include Eris at 96 AU and Goblin, which was discovered earlier this year, at 90 AU.



Astronomers don’t know much about Farout’s physical characteristics because it’s so faint.

“Based on its brightness and distance, it is likely about 500 to 600 km (310 to 372 miles) in diameter. At this size, gravity will dominate over any material strength the object might have, and thus it should be spherical in shape,” said Sheppard. “This would make it a dwarf planet. The color of the object is pinkish to red in color, which suggests it has an icy surface. Ice usually turns reddish in color after being irradiated for long periods of time from the Sun’s radiation.”

Farout was discovered as part of the search for the elusive Planet Nine, sometimes called Planet X. This hypothetical planet is thought to exist in the outer reaches of the Solar System because of the way other Kuiper Belt objects are orientated. But as Sheppard pointed out, Farout doesn’t qualify as Planet X, which is thought to be much bigger.

“Planet X needs to be several times larger than Earth in order to gravitationally push the other smaller objects around and shepherd them into similar types of orbits,” explained Sheppard. “Planet X is also likely even further away, at a few hundred AU.”

It’s reasonable to wonder how this object managed to stray so far from the Solar System’s planetary pack; astronomers won’t know the answer to this question until Farout’s orbit can be determined.

“If its orbit brings it closer in at some point, like near Neptune or one of the other giant planets, then it likely got scattered outwards to its current location and orbit by gravitationally interacting with the planet like Neptune,” said Sheppard. “If its orbit never brings it into the giant planet region in our Solar System, then it becomes a big question of how it got out there. This would suggest Planet X pulled it out to this large distance.”

Either result would be exciting; the first would help us to better understand the history of the Solar System, while the second would offer added proof that Planet X actually exists.

As a fun, final aside, sending a probe to Farout isn’t a terribly far out idea (relax, I’m wrapping up). Currently, the New Horizons probe is scheduled to visit Ultima Thule, a distant Kuiper Belt object, on New Year’s Day, and is traveling at about 36,350 miles per hour (58,500 kilometers per hour). At that speed, it would take a similar probe anywhere from between 35 to 40 years to reach Farout from Earth. Perhaps something for NASA to think about when planning for the next generation of space missions. </s> Scientists have, for the first time, pinpointed the source of a mysterious one-off pulse of cosmic energy known as a fast radio burst.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) have perplexed researchers for years, appearing as fleeting signals from the distant universe that can’t yet be explained definitively.

It’s thought that these brief flashes may come from black holes or neutron stars, though some have even speculated they may be of alien origin.

While scientists recently were able to trace the origin of a repeating FRB, which pulsed numerous times over a span of months, finding the source of a single burst that lasts less than a millisecond is far more challenging.

In a remarkable breakthrough, an Australian-led team with the Gemini South telescope in Chile says they’ve traced a single FRB to a galaxy roughly 3.6 billion light-years away.

‘It is especially challenging to pinpoint FRBs that only flash once and are gone,’ says Keith Bannister of Australia’s Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), who led the Australian team.

The one-off FRB, known as FRB 180924, was spotted in September 2018 using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope.

This radio telescope array has 36 antennas working together as a single instrument to scour the skies for FRBs.

By calculating the minute differences in the amount of time light reaches each of the 36 antennas, the team says it was able to trace the burst back to its home.

‘From these tiny time differences — just a fraction of a billionth of a second — we identified the burst’s home galaxy,’ said team member Adam Deller, of Swinburne University of Technology.

The team then further analyzed the distance and other characteristics using Gemini South telescope, along with the W.M. Keck Observatory and European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).

‘The Gemini South data absolutely confirmed that the light left the galaxy about 4 billion years ago,’ said Nicolas Tejos of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, who led the Gemini observations.

‘When we managed to get a position for FRB 180924 that was good to 0.1 arcsecond, we knew that it would tell us not just which object was the host galaxy, but also where within the host galaxy it occurred,’ said Deller.

‘We found that the FRB was located away from the galaxy’s core, out in the ‘galactic suburbs.”’

The breakthrough could be a step toward finally understanding what gives rise to FRBs in the first place, the researchers say.

It could also lead to more efficient ways of pinpointing their origins.

‘Much like gamma-ray bursts two decades ago, or the more recent detection of gravitational wave events, we stand on the cusp of an exciting new era where we are about to learn where fast radio bursts take place,’ said team member Stuart Ryder of Macquarie University, Australia.

‘Ultimately though, our goal is to use FRBs as cosmological probes, in much the same way that we use gamma ray bursts, quasars, and supernovae.’ </s> While inspecting a known globular cluster, a team of astronomers began to notice that some of its stars didn’t seem to belong. Investigating further, they realized the anomalous stars were part of a nearby galaxy—one previously unknown to us.



One moment you’re investigating a globular cluster, and the next you’re unexpectedly writing a research paper about something else entirely, namely the discovery of previously unknown dwarf spheroidal galaxy. But that’s how it goes sometimes, and the authors of the new study, published this week in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, couldn’t be happier.

“It was definitely a surprise!” exclaimed Luigi Bedin, an astronomer at INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova in Italy and the lead author of the new study. “We knew it was something atypical.”

Named Bedin I in honor of its discoverer, the freshly spotted galaxy is definitely not ordinary. It’s freakishly small, dim, and very, very old. And remarkably, it’s sitting right next door, cosmically speaking: At 30 million light-years away, it’s considered part of our Local Group of galaxies. (To give you an idea of scale, the Milky Way itself measures 105,000 light-years across.)

Bedin 1 is located in the Pavo constellation, which is visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The diminutive galaxy hasn’t been detected until now because it’s obscured by NGC 6752, the globular cluster that Bedin’s team was investigating. Specifically, they were analyzing white dwarf stars within NGC 6752 to measure the age of the cluster, which is located approximately 17,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the astronomers began to notice that some stars along the outer fringes of the globular cluster were out of place, leading to the accidental discovery.

“The temperature and luminosity of these stars suggested they were more distant,” Bedin told Gizmodo. “And they were too loose and too far away from other nearby galaxies.”

The astronomers quickly realized they were looking at a previously undetected galaxy—a compact collection of ancient stars measuring 3,000 light-years across and situated 2,300 times further away than globular cluster NGC 6752. Bedin I was classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy owing to its small size (it’s about 1/35th the diameter of the Milky Way), low luminosity, lack of dust, and population of old stars. To date, some 36 galaxies of this type have been documented in the Local Group of galaxies, according to a Hubble release about the discovery.

“Had the galaxy been 10 times further away, it would have been much harder to detect,” said Bedin. “It would’ve been outside our Local Group.”

Bedin I was dated to around 13 billion years old; its oldest stars are no longer burning hydrogen—a tell-tale sign of its extreme age, explained Bedin. This dwarf galaxy formed during the earliest stages of the Universe, so it’s considered a cosmological fossil. Remarkably, it formed during the first hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang. Its discovery confirms suspicions that some of the Universe’s oldest galaxies are nearby. But as this discovery also shows, they’re rather hard to spot, mostly because they’re so small and dim. 



Not only is this dwarf galaxy old, it’s also remarkably isolated and undisturbed. Bedin I has been floating through the cosmos with impunity for billions of years, making it an excellent target for future investigations. The discovery of this isolated galaxy could “put constraints on models of how the galaxy we see today did form,” said Bedin.

As a final note, Bedin said he pleased with the galaxy’s new name, saying it was “nice to adopt a nickname from one of its discoverers instead of an anonymous identification based on its coordinates.” Hard to fault him on that! Those dreadful numerical designations, while utilitarian, are often quite silly. No harm in giving catchy names to cool things, and by consequence, honoring the researchers involved. </s> Astronomers have discovered another small object in the outer solar system, the most distant solar system object yet known. Another first … it’s the first solar system object to be detected at a distance of more than 100 times Earth’s distance from the sun. The new object has been given the provisional designation 2018 VG18. Astronomers have given it the nickname Farout.

Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution of Science, David Tholen of the University of Hawaii and Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University co-discovered the object. The discovery images of 2018 VG18 were taken at the Japanese Subaru 8-meter telescope located atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii on November 10, 2018. By tracking its movement through space, the astronomers can calculate that 2018 VG18 lies at a distance of about 120 astronomical units, or Earth-sun units. A statement from these astronomers explained:

The second-most-distant observed solar system object is Eris, at about 96 AU. Pluto is currently at about 34 AU, making 2018 VG18 more than 3 1/2 times more distant than the solar system’s most-famous dwarf planet. 2018 VG18 was discovered as part of the team’s continuing search for extremely distant solar system objects, including a suspected Planet X (with the X standing for unknown), also sometimes called Planet 9.

Indeed, it’s the Planet 9 possibility that makes this new discovery of another small object in the outer solar system so tantalizing. After all, there must be many small outer solar system bodies, moving through space, unknown to earthly astronomers. Finding them is a big deal to the Planet 9 search because the orbits of these small, outer bodies are clues to Planet 9’s whereabouts, if, indeed, it exists.

This same group of astronomers – Sheppard, Tholen and Trujillo – recently discovered another small, outer body that’s been labeled 2015 TG387 and nicknamed The Goblin, because it was first seen near Halloween 2018. Their statement explained:

The Goblin was discovered at about 80 AU and has an orbit that is consistent with it being influenced by an unseen super-Earth-sized Planet X on the solar system’s very distant fringes … 2015 TG387 and 2012 VP113 never get close enough to the solar system’s giant planets, like Neptune and Jupiter, to have significant gravitational interactions with them. This means that these extremely distant objects can be probes of what is happening in the solar system’s outer reaches. The team doesn’t know 2018 VG18’s orbit very well yet, so they have not been able to determine if it shows signs of being shaped by Planet X.

How long will it take to learn more about 2018 VG18’s orbit? Years! That’s because 2018 VG18 is so distant. Remember your Astronomy 101? The more distant the object from our sun, the slower it moves in orbit around the sun. As the most distant object yet found in our solar system, 2018 VG18 has the distinction of being slower-moving than any other observed solar system object. So, Sheppard explained:

… it will take a few years to fully determine its orbit. But it was found in a similar location on the sky to the other known extreme solar system objects, suggesting it might have the same type of orbit that most of them do.

Read more about this discovery via Carnegie Institution for Science

Bottom line: 2018 VG18 is the most distant object yet known in our solar system. It’s a small body, 120 times Earth’s distance from the sun, but it may have a big role to play in the discovery of a large, as-yet-unknown Planet X (aka Planet 9).

EarthSky lunar calendars are cool! They make great gifts. Order now. Going fast!

Want to see 2018’s brightest comet? How to see comet 46P/Wirtanen </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The reddish cigar-shaped object called ‘Oumuamua spotted last year tumbling through space is a comet, scientists said on Wednesday, solving the mystery over how to classify the first interstellar object found passing through our solar system.

This artist’s impression shows the first interstellar asteroid, `Oumuamua as it passes through the solar system after its discovery in October 2017. European Southern Obervatory/M. Kornmesser/Handout via REUTERS/Files

Astronomers said they closely examined the trajectory of ‘Oumuamua, which measures about a half-mile (800 meters) long, as it speeds through our cosmic neighborhood after being evicted somehow from a distant star system.

They found that it is deviating slightly from a path that would be explained purely by the Sun’s gravitational pull because of what apparently is a very small emission of gas from its surface, indicative of a comet.

‘Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh) initially was pegged as a comet, but it lacks the tail of gas and dust characteristic of many comets, and some scientists argued that it was perhaps a dry asteroid.

“It does not display any tail in any observation we obtained,” said astronomer Marco Micheli of the European Space Agency’s SSA-NEO Coordination Centre in Italy, who led the study, published in the journal Nature.

“However, our analysis shows that the amount of emitted gas that is needed to generate this extra force we see would have been so small as to be invisible in our observations,” he said in an email.

This “extra force” acting on the object’s trajectory amounts to only about 0.1 percent of the Sun’s gravitational attraction.

‘Oumuamua was first detected last October by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope. Its name refers in the native Hawaiian language to a messenger arriving from a great distance.

It previously slingshot past the Sun traveling at roughly 196,000 miles per hour (315,000 km per hour) and is heading out of the solar system in the direction of the constellation Pegasus. ‘Oumuamua as of last month was roughly the same distance from the Sun as Jupiter.

Astronomers suspect that more visitors from other star systems will be discovered passing through our solar system.

“The discovery of ‘Oumuamua is an absolute first in the field, and it provided our first opportunity to study an object coming from another star and planetary system,” Micheli said. “The existence of these objects was expected, but seeing one for the first time, and being able to study it in detail, is a unique chance to know more on these distant systems, and how they formed.”
Researchers publish observations of a possible nova (ASASSN-18fv) in the constellation Carina.