V382 Velorum, also known as Nova Velorum 1999, was a bright nova which occurred in 1999 in the southern constellation Vela. V382 Velorum reached a brightness of 2.6 magnitude, making it easily visible to the naked eye. It was discovered by Peter Williams of Heathcote, New South Wales, Australia at 09:30 UT on 22 May 1999. Later that same day it was discovered independently at 10:49 UT by Alan C. Gilmore at Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand.[4][5]
Location of V382 Velorum (circled in red) | |
Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Vela |
Right ascension | 10h 44m 48.3978s[1] |
Declination | −52° 25′ 31.1686″[1] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 2.8 Max. 16.6 Min.[2] |
Characteristics | |
Variable type | Nova[2] |
Astrometry | |
Proper motion (μ) | RA: −11.885±0.083[1] mas/yr Dec.: 2.690±0.079[1] mas/yr |
Parallax (π) | 0.5599 ± 0.0547 mas[1] |
Distance | 1800+243 −133[2] pc |
Other designations | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
In its quiescent state, V382 Velorum has a mean visual magnitude of 16.56.[6] It is classified as a fast nova with a smooth light curve.[7][8]
Like all novae, V382 Velorum is a binary system with two stars orbiting so close to each other that one star, the "donor" star, transfers matter to its companion star which is a white dwarf. The orbital period is 3.5 hours.[9] The white dwarf in this system has a mass of 1.23M⊙.[10] V382 Velorum is a neon nova, a relatively rare type of nova with a O-Ne-Mg white dwarf, rather than the more common C-O white dwarf.[11]
The stars forming V382 Velorum are surrounded by a small emission nebula about 10 arc seconds in diameter.[12]