On the Nova Rate in M87
  Recently, Shara and collaborators searched for novae in M87 in a series of
images originally acquired in HST program #10543 (PI: Baltz), finding a
surprisingly high nova rate of $363_{-45}^{+33}$ per year. In an attempt to
reconcile this rate with previous ground-based estimates, we have undertaken an
independent analysis of the HST data. Our results are in broad agreement with
those of Shara et al., although we argue that the global nova rate in M87
remains uncertain, both due to the difficulty in identifying bona fide novae
from incomplete lightcurves, and in extrapolating observations near the center
of M87 to the entire galaxy. We conclude that nova rates as low as ~200 per
year remain plausible.
