Nova Cygni 1975

Thirty-three years ago, on the evening of 31st August 1975, I was out in my parent's back garden setting up my binocular tripod for a night of variable star observing.  The sky was just beginning to get dark and the brighter stars were visible.  As I was tightening various bolts on the tripod, I looked up and noticed a 2nd-magnitude star that shouldn't be there in the gap between Deneb and Cepheus.  My first thought was that it must be a satellite, and I fully expected that, within a few seconds, it would have moved relative to the background stars.  I looked down to concentrate on securing the bolts and then glanced up again.  The star hadn't moved.  I immediately realized it must be a nova.

This new star had actual been discovered by several observers in Japan two days earlier, on the 29th of August, when it was magnitude 3.  Many other people around the world saw it on the the 30th when it had reached magnitude 1.8.  Unfortunately I had been clouded out on that night, and by the time I saw it, it was already fading.  The star was a distinct yellow colour when I first saw it, which suggested to me that it was already on the decline; novae are normally white or even bluish at or before maximum.  Over the following weeks, the star became distinctly red as it faded.

I continued to observe the nova whenever I could through to February of the following year. By then it had faded to magnitude 9.8.  The above light-curve (a plot of magnitude against Julian Day number) shows my results.  The very rapid early decline suggests that this was one of the most intrinsically luminous novae on record.

Fly

A fly, probably a female Graphomyia maculata.  My attention was first drawn to it by its rather striking spotty rear-end (see photo below).  The males of this species have a black and orange abdomen.

Both photos taken beside the top lake in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2008-08-30.

Robber Fly

Yesterday Zoe photographed this fly which alighted on my back during our walk round the Reading University grounds.  It is probably a red-legged robber fly (Dioctria rufipes).  Note the white 'beard' which is said to protect the eyes from damage by struggling prey.

[Note added 2011-03-30:  The side of the thorax looks wrong for Dioctria rufipes.  Probably not a Dioctria sp. ]

Common Darter Dragonfly

A common darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum). This one was resting on this plant stalk overlooking the water and whenever another common darter came within 3 or 4 metres, it would fly up to chase, intruder off, and then return to exactly the same spot to rest.  It must have been guarding this stretch of water from rival males.  Yesterday I saw a pair mating on the wing, repeatedly dropping down and dipping in the water, presumably laying newly fertilized eggs.

Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2008-08-30.

Hoverfly

A hoverfly of the genus Helophilus, probably H. pendulus but a better view of its face and its back legs would be required to exclude H.trivittatus.  This french page explains how to distinguish the three common species of Helophilus (view through Google Translate if you have difficulty reading French).

Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2008-08-29.