NOTE: This Special Notice was cancelled by AAVSO Special Notice #301, after we were notified of observations that proved no transient was present. It is included here so that our archives are complete.
October 23, 2012: Ian Shelton (Mount Allison University & U. Toronto) wrote in Astronomer's Telegram #4513 that a possible 6th magnitude transient with very red color was detected in a DSLR image of the the field of the Hyades on 2012 October 22.4361 (JD 2456222.9361). Coordinates given for the transient are the following (J2000):
RA: 04 23 29 , Dec: +17 58 29
No additional information about the exposure, filters, or other imaging techniques used were given, and only a single image was presented in the Telegram. We have independently checked VSX to ensure that there is no known variable star within 10 arcminutes of this position, and the Minor Planet Center's MPChecker utility (available at http://scully.cfa.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/checkmp.cgi ) yields no minor planets coincident with that position and time.
This is a very tentative report, and confirming observations are required. If the transient is confirmed, followup observations -- including spectroscopy -- are strongly encouraged.
This AAVSO Special Notice was prepared by M. Templeton.
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