V841 Ophiuchi was a bright nova discovered by John Russell Hind on 27 April 1848. It was the first object of its type discovered since 1670. At the time of its discovery, it had an apparent magnitude of 5.6, but may have reached magnitude 2 at its peak, making it easily visible to the naked eye. Near peak brightness it was described as "bright red" or "scarlet", probably due to Hα line emission. Its brightness is currently varying slowly around magnitude 13.5. The area of the sky surrounding this nova had been examined frequently by astronomers prior to the nova's discovery, because it was near the reported location of "52 Serpentis", a star John Flamsteed had included in his catalogue with erroneous coordinates.