There’s a new nova in the sky, and it’s brightening

On March 18, Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Nakamura (who must have a seriously keen eye) spotted something within the constellation Cassiopeia that did not show up on any star maps. In fact, at magnitude +9.6, it was at least 20 times brighter than anything ever spotted at that location.

It was confirmed shortly afterwards by the University of Kyoto, and by the spectrum of it, it is most likely a classical nova. Now it’s called Nova Cas 2021.

At last check, late on March 19, it had brightened to magnitude +7.5. That’s a quick increase in brightness of 6 or 7 times since its discovery less than 48 hours earlier. That means it can be spotted quite easily with binoculars and is approaching the point (magnitude +6.0 or so) where it can be spotted with the naked eye. I haven’t seen any data posted over the weekend on it, but I’d imagine we’ll see some more early this upcoming week. …