2004IAUC.8306....1N

The Central Bureau has received word of the discovery of a possible nova independently by Hideo Nishimura (Kakegawa, Shizuoka- ken, Japan; via S. Nakano, Sumoto, Japan) and by William Liller (Vina del Mar, Chile). Nishimura reported the position of the new object (mag 9.4) as R.A. = 18h19m28s, Decl. = -28o35'34" (equinox 2000.0) from two Fuji T-Max films taken around Mar. 15.82 UT with a Pentax 200-mm f/4 lens; nothing was visible at this location on his patrol films taken on Mar. 12.82 (limiting mag 10.5). Liller found the new star at mag about 8.2 on two Technical Pan films taken with an 85-mm Nikon camera lens (+ red filter) on Mar. 17.342 and 17.346, providing the position as R.A. = 18h19m.6, Decl. = -28o35'; he adds that nothing is visible at this position on his exposures taken on Feb. 26.38 (limiting mag 11.0). Following requests by the Central Bureau and the AAVSO, D. West (Mulvane, KS) obtained a CCD image showing the apparent nova at V = 8.38 ± 0.07 on Mar. 17.489, providing the following precise position: R.A. = 18h19m32s.29, Decl. = -28o36'35".7. West adds that nothing is visible at this location on a red Digitized Sky Survey image (limiting mag approximately 17.5). Visual magnitude estimates, provided in part by E. Waagen, AAVSO: Mar. 17.556, 8.1 (R. Royer, Springville, CA); 17.631, 8.5 (J. Bedient, Honolulu, HI); 17.821, 8.7 (A. Pearce, Nedlands, W. Australia).