DRAFT
2026-09-06 11:45:14
Type: Object/s-Data/Analysis
Bibcode: 2026TNSAN.267....1P
AT 2026aaqs (ZTF26absfgdt): a faint transient in NGC 247 at 3.3 Mpc
Authors: I. Perez-Fournon (IAC and ULL), F. Poidevin (IAC and ULL), A. Lopez-Oramas (IAC and ULL), D. Aguado (IAC and ULL), N. Abreu Garcia (ULL), D. Cano-Morales (ULL), I. Correa-Plasencia (ULL), A. E. Hernandez-Diaz (ULL), E. Lekaroz-Urriza (ULL), M. Magdalena-Rodriguez (ULL), M. Quintana-Ansaldo (ULL), D. Rodriguez-Fernandez (ULL), and J. Uribarri-Dermit (ULL)
Source Group: SGLF
Keywords: Time-domain, Transient, Optical
Abstract:
We report results on the recent faint transient AT 2026aaqs (ZTF26absfgdt), likely associated with the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 247 (at 3.3 Mpc), that is a member of the Sculptor group of galaxies.

AT 2026aaqs (ZTF26absfgdt) was discovered on 4th September 2026 at 08:33:25 UT (MJD 61287.36) by ZTF (Minrui Ning, TNS Astronomical Transient Report No. 322391), with a discovery magnitude of g = 19.703 +/- 0.183. Is is also detected in ATLAS forced photometry with a first detection on MJD = 61287.412730 at an orange-ATLAS magnitude of 19.215  +/- 0.204.

It is located at R.A., Dec (J2000) = 00:47:08.004, -20:38:07.33 (ZTF coordinates), which is 450.00" N, 7.71" W (7.3 kpc) from the centre of the galaxy NGC 247 (Caldwell 62, the Claw Galaxy), that is one of the closest spiral galaxies of the southern sky and is part of the Sculptor group of galaxies, that also contains  NGC 253 (the Sculptor Galaxy).

Spectral classification and other follow-up observations are encouraged.

The ZTF light curve and image cutouts are available at the ZTF/LSST brokers, e.g.:

Lasair:

https://lasair-ztf.lsst.ac.uk/objects/ZTF26absfgdt/

ALeRCE:

https://alerce.online/object/ZTF26absfgdt

ANTARES:

https://antares.noirlab.edu/loci/ANT20264owe7z9jr64e

Babamul:

https://babamul.caltech.edu/objects/ZTF/ZTF26absfgdt

This work is part of grant CEX2025-001609-S, awarded to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias under the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence program and funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.
 

Show current TNS values
Catalog Name Reported RA Reported DEC Reported Obj-Type Reported Redshift Host Name Host Redshift Remarks TNS RA TNS DEC TNS Obj-Type TNS Redshift
TNS 2026aaqs [ZTF26absfgdt] 00:47:08.005 -20:38:07.30 NGC 247 00:47:08.005 -20:38:07.30

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