2008IAUC.8935....1L

D. K. Lynch, R. W. Russell, and R. J. Rudy, The Aerospace Corporation; C. E. Woodward, University of Minnesota; and G. J. Schwarz, West Chester University, report on SpeX observations (wavelength range 0.8-2.5 microns) of V2491 Cyg (cf. IAUC 8934) obtained at the Infrared Telescope Facility on Apr. 12.56 UT: "The object is definitely a nova, but its spectrum is highly unusual. It has extremely broad lines (FWHM of 5500 km/s) with complex profiles. Fe II may be present in the infrared spectrum, but it is difficult to confirm this object as an 'Fe II' nova due to masking of the infrared Fe II emission lines by stronger features. The neutral helium line at 1.083 microns has already appeared, which is early for an 'Fe II' nova. This, together with the breadth of the lines, plus strong emission features of N I and N II, suggests that this may be a rarer helium-nitrogen nova. The O I lines indicate a reddening of only E(B-V) = 0.3, a result supported by the blue nature of the overall spectrum. The probable identification of V2491 Cyg with a known x-ray source (Ibarra and Kuulkers, http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=1473) makes this a potentially important source. Observations at all wavelengths are encouraged."