2008CBET.1528....1K

M. M. Kasliwal, R. Quimby, S. B. Cenko, A. Rau, E. O. Ofek, and S. R. Kulkarni, California Institute of Technology, report their discovery on Sept. 25.49 UT of a nova located at R.A. = 9h55m59s.35, Decl. = +69o05'57".1 (equinox 2000.0), which is 141" east and 122" north of the center of M81. Discovered with the Palomar 1.5-m reflector in the course of their "Fast Transients In Nearby Galaxies" search program, the nova was at magnitude g = 19.5 ± 0.1 at discovery (photometric calibration with respect to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey catalogue) and faded to g = 20.8 on Oct. 4.49; it was not detected on July 9.19, with 3-sigma upper limits of g > 21.5. Spectroscopic confirmation was obtained on Sept. 29.51 with the Hale 5-m telescope (+ Double Beam Spectrograph), revealing prominent Balmer lines (H-alpha FWHM about 3000 km/s) and Fe II (42) lines, indicating it to be a "Fe II"-type nova.