V382 Velorum

V382 Velorum, also known as Nova Velorum 1999, was a bright nova which occurred in 1999 in the southern constellation Vela. V382 Velorum reached a brightness of 2.6 magnitude, making it easily visible to the naked eye. It was discovered by Peter Williams of Heathcote, New South Wales, Australia at 09:30 UT on 22 May 1999. Later that same day it was discovered independently at 10:49 UT by Alan C. Gilmore at Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand.^[4][5]

V382 Velorum

Location of V382 Velorum (circled in red)
Observation data Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation	Vela
Right ascension	10h 44m 48.3978s[1]
Declination	−52° 25′ 31.1686″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)	2.8 Max. 16.6 Min.[2]
Characteristics
Variable type	Nova[2]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ)	RA: −11.885±0.083[1] mas/yr Dec.: 2.690±0.079[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)	0.5599±0.0547 mas[1]
Distance	1800+243 −133[2] pc
Other designations
Nova Vel 1999, AAVSO 1040-51, Gaia DR2 5354475121660180096[3][2]
Database references
SIMBAD	data

The light curve of V382 Velorum, plotted from AAVSO data

In its quiescent state, V382 Velorum has a mean visual magnitude of 16.56.^[6] It is classified as a fast nova with a smooth light curve.^[7][8]

Like all novae, V382 Velorum is a binary system with two stars orbiting so close to each other that one star, the "donor" star, transfers matter to its companion star which is a white dwarf. The orbital period is 3.5 hours.^[9] The white dwarf in this system has a mass of 1.23M_⊙.^[10] V382 Velorum is a neon nova, a relatively rare type of nova with a O-Ne-Mg white dwarf, rather than the more common C-O white dwarf.^[11]

The stars forming V382 Velorum are surrounded by a small emission nebula about 10 arc seconds in diameter.^[12]