FH Serpentis [SEP] constellation
FH Serpentis
FH Serpentis (Nova Serpentis 1970) was a nova, which appeared in the constellation Serpens in 1970. It reached magnitude 4.4. It was discovered on February 13, 1970 by Minoru Honda located at Kurashiki, Japan. Other astronomers later studied this Nova, and calculated its distances based on the decay time of its light curves.
Nova Serpentis was also observed by the NASA space observatory OAO-2 Stargazer, active from 1968 to 1973.
The Nova was important for science because it was one of the first
of 0.01 magnitudes. In 1909, the symbiotic nova RT Serpentis appeared near Omicron, although it only reached a maximum magnitude of 10.
The star system 59 Serpentis, also known as d Serpentis, is a triple star system consisting of a spectroscopic binary containing an A-type star and an orange giant and an orange giant secondary. The system shows irregular variations in brightness between magnitudes 5.17 and 5.2. In 1970, the nova FH Serpentis appeared just slightly north of 59 Serpentis, reaching a maximum brightness of 4.5.