Two nova in Scorpius? Whoa!

Update 2/23/07 :

AAVSO says the second one is a nova!.

Astronomy magazine has a chart showing both nova.

The appropriate AAVSO chart of comparison stars is here.

Think of it - two nova in one binocular field of view! Now for some clear skies ;-(

----------------------- earlier posting 2/22 ----

I went out about 5:15 am and observed Nova Scorpii 2007.

I put Nova Scorpii at 4.8, but I admit my variable star estimating days are way behind me and I'm out of practice. Still, it looked like it was very close to a neighboring 5.0 star and fainter than a 4.2 one - Estimated made with 15X45 IS binos from in front of my house - turns out I have straight shot to the southern horizon if I step out on Drift Road and the nova was getting close to due south. Also - it's amazing how many people on this road go to work at 5:15 am - spent a lot of time dodging car lights.

More mazing still is I went to the Sky and Telescope pages and learned that not only was my estimate in the ballpark - they're reporting it at 4.9 - but there may well be a second nova in Scorpius right now just three degrees away from this one! That's incredible. If so, it's at about Magnitude 9 . Is it a nova? Is it onthe rise? Or has it reached its peak? This first nova was at about the same brightness when discovered. So stay tuned. The celestial fireworks show isn't over yet.