By Lorraine Boyd | 2025-06-17
On 06/18/2025 09:30 pm by Stephen O'Meara | Website | Maun, Botswana
There's a "new" star, called a nova, in the constellation Lupus the Wolf, now well-placed in the evening sky after sunset, especially for those in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also visible, especially from lower latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. "New" is in quotes because, while the star was not visible at this brightness before, it suddenly burst into view from a very very faint magnitude (~22nd-magnitude; much too faint to see with even the largest backyard telescopes) to what is now (June 18) magnitude 5.6, which is just barely visible to the unaided eyes. It's a fine binocular object.
Canon 90D and 50-mm lens. Guided, using IOptron tracker. Image slightly cropped.
Color corrected and labelled