Nova Sagittarii 1999

Y. and R. Kushida, Yatsugatake South Base Observatory, report the discovery by Minoru Yamamoto, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan, of a nova (mag 8.6) on two TMax-400 films taken with a 200-mm f/4 camera lens (+ PO-0 filter) on Apr. 25.731 UT. No star is visible at this location on 23 previous films taken by Yamamoto dating back to 1997 Feb. 19, the most recent from 1999 Apr. 11 (limiting mag 10.6). The Kushidas provide the following precise position from an unfiltered CCD image taken with a 0.4-m f/6.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector on Apr. 26.778, when the star appeared at mag 7.6: R.A. = 18h07m36s.22, Decl. = -27o20'13".5 (equinox 2000.0). Nothing obvious appears at this location on the Digital Sky Survey.