V1369 Cen is a nova in the Constellation Centaurus.

A nova is a white dwarf star in a tight binary system that draws matter from its companion. When the mass accreted by the white dwarf reaches a critical level, nuclear fusion commences near the surface of the star, triggering a massive explosion. The brightness of the star rises dramatically - and quickly - exceeding that of its neighbours. For example, the white dwarf was around magnitude 15.1 and reached a peak of 3.3 magnitude. In other words, the white dwarf in outburst is around 52,000 times as bright was it was before its explosion! No wonder it stands out in this field.

V1369 was discovered by John Seach on 2 December 2013. Data for this image were collected on 31 December 2013 and 13 and 14 January 2014 by which time the star had faded from its peak of magnitude 3.3 to around 4.5.

At this stage, there are no reliable estimates of the distance to this nova.

Taken from Haberfield, Sydney with Planewave CDK12.5 using STX16803.

R (81 mins), G (54 mins) and B (54 mins)