AB Boötis

Summary

AB Boötis, also known as Nova Boötis 1877 and occasionally Nova Comae Berenices 1877, is an object that may have undergone a nova outburst in 1877. It was discovered by Friedrich Schwab at Technische Universität Ilmenau in 1877. He reported observing the star as a 5th magnitude object, visible to the naked eye, on 14 nights during the period from 30 May 1877 through 14 July 1877. During that time interval, his estimate of the star's brightness only changed by 0.42 magnitudes. The star was lost, and despite several searches in subsequent years, no other 19th century observations of the nova were reported. Downes et al. estimate that Schwab's reported coordinates for the star may have had a precision no better than 1/2 degree. In 1971, A. Sh. Khatisov suggested that the star Schwab saw was BD +21°2606, but that identification may be incorrect.