Peter Collins Discovered His Fourth Binocular Nova in February 1992

Summary: American amateur astronomer Peter Collins discovered his fourth binocular nova in February 1992, four years after his third binocular nova in 1987.

American amateur astronomer’s Feb. 19, 1992, discovery of V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992) numbered as his fourth binocular nova discovery; Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image reveals V1974 Cygni’s elliptical, slightly lumpy ring-like structure of ejected hot gas: F. Paresce, R. Jedrzejewsky (STScI) NASA/ESA, Public Domain, via Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Hubblesite

American amateur astronomer Peter Collins discovered his fourth binocular nova in February 1992, four years after this third binocular nova discovery in 1987 and 13 years after his first binocular nova find in 1978.

Peter L. Collins first spotted Nova Cygni 1992, officially designated as V1974 Cygni, early in the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 18, 1992, in Boulder, Colorado. He noticed the unfamiliar object in Cygnus the Swan constellation through his 10x50 binoculars and despite interference from a full moon and from volcanic aerosol-clouded conditions.

In his description in the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) Newsletter’s January 1993 issue, 11 months after his discovery, Collins noted that he excluded major and minor planets from consideration because of the object’s “combination of brilliancy, no motion, and high ecliptic latitude.” He did not find the object in the AAVSO Variable Star Atlas; the General Catalog of Variable Stars, distributed by Moscow’s Institute of Astronomy and Sternberg Astronomical Institute; German astronomer Hans Vehrenberg’s (March 6, 1910-Aug. 2, 1991) Photographic Atlas (Photographischer Stern-Atlas); or Sky & Telescope’s color photographs for the region.

On Wednesday, Feb. 19, Collins reported his binocular nova discovery to AAVSO and noted: “. . . for once a nova convenient to their office hours . . .” Later in the day, around 4 p.m., Collins contacted Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Schelte John “Bobby” Bus decided that he and fellow comet and minor planet discoverer Brian A. Skiff would try for astrometric (Ancient Greek: ἄστρον, ástron, “celestial body” + μέτρον, métron, “measure”) solving via a photographic plate taken by the Observatory’s 0.33-m astrograph.

Collins returned to his previous evening’s site around 6:30 p.m. Under a “more or less” clear sky, he “. . . found the star again, still brighter, and felt I had turned a corner.” Soon thereafter, Skiff called to confirm a “new star” on the astrometric plate.

The next day, Thursday, Feb. 20, AAVSO Director Janet Akyüz Mattei (Jan. 2, 1943-March 22, 2004) informed Collins that she had received visual confirmation of the nova, shining at magnitude 4.3, in eastern Europe. Collins’ observing that night found a “faint naked eye object and the feeling was pure gratitude.”

V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992) was the second binocular nova that Collins discovered in Cygnus the Swan constellation. Collins’ first binocular discovery of a Cygnid nova also numbered as his first binocular nova discovery. He made his find Sunday, Sept. 10, 1978, in Tucson, Arizona. He shares credit for Nova Cygni 1978, officially designated as V1668 Cygni, with Warren C. Morrison of Peterborough, Ontario, east central Canada. In his biographical remarks for William Liller’s The Cambridge Guide to Astronomical Discovery (1992), Collins recalled that Morrison’s discovery preceded his observation by six hours.

Collins located his second and third binocular nova discoveries in Vulpecula the Fox constellation. He discovered Nova Vulpeculae 1984 No. 2, officially designated QU Vulpeculae, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 1984. He Nova Vulpeculae 1987, officially designated QV Vulpeculae, Nov. 15, 1987. He shares discovery of QV Vulpeculae with Kenneth C. Beckmann of Lewiston, Michigan, who independently observed the nova two hours earlier.

In her 2010 article on V1974 Cyg (Nova Cygni 1992), Kristine M. Larson, professor of physics and astronomy at Central Connecticut State University since 1989, noted that the American Association of Variable Star Observers recognized Peter Collins’ visual discovery with bestowal of the annual AAVSO Nova Award. Collins received the award, as its 28th recipient, at AAVSO’s 1993 Spring Meeting in Berkeley, California.

Collins has received a total of three AAVSO Nova Awards. Prior to his award in 1993 for his 1992 discovery of V1974 Cygni, he was recognized for his two Vulpecula finds. The award for QU Vulpeculae (Nova Vulpeculae 1984 No. 2) was presented at the 1985 Annual Meeting in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Awards for Nova Vulpeculae 1987 were presented to Beckmann and Collins at the 1988 Annual Meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The takeaways for Peter Collins’ discovery of his fourth binocular nova in February 1992 are that V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992) numbers as the American amateur astronomer’s second binocular nova discovery in Cygnus the Swan constellation, that his first Cygnid binocular nova discovery also numbered as his first binocular nova discovery and that his second and third binocular nova discoveries were located in Vulpecula the Fox constellation.

Peter Collins’ first binocular nova discovery, made with 7x50 binoculars, was V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992), located about “a degree from the popular variable SS Cygni, so there were multiple independent discoveries" (W. Liller, The Cambridge Guide to Astronomical Discoveries, page 65); cataclysmic variable SS Cygni in quiescent and outburst states in June and August 2018: Mpyat2, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

American amateur astronomer’s Feb. 19, 1992, discovery of V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992) numbered as his fourth binocular nova discovery; Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image reveals V1974 Cygni’s elliptical, slightly lumpy ring-like structure of ejected hot gas: F. Paresce, R. Jedrzejewsky (STScI) NASA/ESA, Public Domain, via Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Hubblesite @ http://hubblesite.org/image/136

Peter Collins’ first binocular nova discovery, made with 7x50 binoculars, was V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992), located about “a degree from the popular variable SS Cygni, so there were multiple independent discoveries" (W. Liller, The Cambridge Guide to Astronomical Discoveries, page 65); cataclysmic variable SS Cygni in quiescent and outburst states in June and August 2018: Mpyat2, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SS_Cyg_01_Jun_2018_vs_07_Aug_2018.gif

For further information:

Collins, P. (Peter) L. “One Man’s Nova Patrol.” JAAVSO The Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (JAAVSO), vol. 7, no. 2 (1978): 64-66.
Available @ https://www.aavso.org/apps/jaavso/volume/14/

Collins, Peter. “Discovery of a Nova [Nova CYGNI 1992].” AAVSO Newsletter, number 10 (January 1993).
Available @ https://www.aavso.org/discovery-nova

Green, Daniel W.E. “Nova Cygni 1992.” IAU Circular No. 5454. Feb. 20, 1992.
Available @ https://pdssbn.astro.umd.edu/iau/1992/5454.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “Nova Vulpeculae 1984 No. 2.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 4023. Dec. 24, 1984.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/04000/04023.html

Green, Daniel W.E. “Nova Vulpeculae 1987.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 4488. Nov. 16, 1987.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/04400/04488.html

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Available @ https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/blink-a-nova-tonight100720150710/

King, Bob. “Meet My Variable Friend SS Cygni.” Sky & Telescope > Astronomy News > Observing News. Sept. 10, 2014.
Available @ https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/meet-variable-friend-ss-cygni-09102014/

Larsen, Kristine (LKR). “Novae (2012 Edition).” AAVSO American Association of Variable Star Observers. April 13, 2010.
Available @ https://www.aavso.org/vsots_novae

Larsen, Kristine (LKR). “V1974 Cyg (Nova Cygni 1992).” AAVSO American Association of Variable Star Observers. July 15, 2010.
Available @ http://www.aavso.org/v1974-cyg-nova-cygni-1992

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Liller, William. “Untitled Remarks: Peter L. Collins, Boulder, Colorado, USA.” The Cambridge Guide to Astronomical Discovery: 65-66. Cambridge UK; New York NY; Victoria, Australia: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=khtT0QAXI9QC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65

Marriner, Derdriu. “Peter Collins Discovered V1974 Cygni With Binoculars Feb. 19, 1922.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1992.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/peter-collins-discovered-v1974-cygni.html

Marsden, Brian G. “Nova Cygni 1978.” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 3263. Sept. 11, 1978.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03200/03263.html

Marsden, Brian G. “V1668 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1978).” Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams > IAU Circular No. 3349. April 24, 1979.
Available @ http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03300/03349.html

Mattei, Janet A. “2027+52 Nova Cygni 1992.” AAVSO Alert Notice 156. April 16, 1992.
Available via AAVSO @ https://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-156

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Available via AAVSO @ https://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-155

Parasce [sic: Paresce], Francesco. “Gas Shell Around Nova Cygni.” Hubblesite > Image. News Release ID STScI-1993-21. Sept. 30, 1933.
Available @ http://hubblesite.org/image/115

Parasce [sic: Paresce], Francesco. “Hubble Sees Gas Shell Around Nova Cygni 1992.” Hubblesite > News Release. News Release number STScI-1993-21. Sept. 30, 1993.
Available @ http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/1993-21
Available via Hubble Space Telescope @ https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9321a/

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Available @ http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/1994-06

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Available @ http://hubblesite.org/image/135

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Starrfield, Sumner; and Steven N. Shore. “V1974 Cygni 1992: The Most Important Nova of the Century.” Scientific American Presents: Magnificent Cosmos, vol. 9, no. 1 (Spring 1998): II. Fire and Light: 56-60.br /> Available @ https://quantummechanics.ucsd.edu/ph87/ScientificAmerican/sciam_magnificant-cosmos/nova-of-century.pdf