ABSTRACT The Andromeda Galaxy recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a had been observed in eruption 10 times, including yearly eruptions from 2008 to 2014. With a measured recurrence period of days (we believe ...the true value to be half of this) and a white dwarf very close to the Chandrasekhar limit, M31N 2008-12a has become the leading pre-explosion supernova type Ia progenitor candidate. Following multi-wavelength follow-up observations of the 2013 and 2014 eruptions, we initiated a campaign to ensure early detection of the predicted 2015 eruption, which triggered ambitious ground- and space-based follow-up programs. In this paper we present the 2015 detection, visible to near-infrared photometry and visible spectroscopy, and ultraviolet and X-ray observations from the Swift observatory. The LCOGT 2 m (Hawaii) discovered the 2015 eruption, estimated to have commenced at August 28.28 0.12 UT. The 2013-2015 eruptions are remarkably similar at all wavelengths. New early spectroscopic observations reveal short-lived emission from material with velocities ∼13,000 km s−1, possibly collimated outflows. Photometric and spectroscopic observations of the eruption provide strong evidence supporting a red giant donor. An apparently stochastic variability during the early supersoft X-ray phase was comparable in amplitude and duration to past eruptions, but the 2013 and 2015 eruptions show evidence of a brief flux dip during this phase. The multi-eruption Swift/XRT spectra show tentative evidence of high-ionization emission lines above a high-temperature continuum. Following Henze et al. (2015a), the updated recurrence period based on all known eruptions is days, and we expect the next eruption of M31N 2008-12a to occur around 2016 mid-September.
ABSTRACT
We present observations and analysis of 18 stripped-envelope supernovae observed during 2013–2018. This sample consists of five H/He-rich SNe, six H-poor/He-rich SNe, three narrow lined SNe ...Ic, and four broad lined SNe Ic. The peak luminosity and characteristic time-scales of the bolometric light curves are calculated, and the light curves modelled to derive 56Ni and ejecta masses (MNi and Mej). Additionally, the temperature evolution and spectral line velocity curves of each SN are examined. Analysis of the O i line in the nebular phase of eight SNe suggests their progenitors had initial masses <20 M⊙. The bolometric light curve properties are examined in combination with those of other SE events from the literature. The resulting data set gives the Mej distribution for 80 SE–SNe, the largest such sample in the literature to date, and shows that SNe Ib have the lowest median Mej, followed by narrow-lined SNe Ic, H/He-rich SNe, broad-lined SNe Ic, and finally gamma-ray burst SNe. SNe Ic-6/7 show the largest spread of Mej ranging from ∼1.2–11 M⊙, considerably greater than any other subtype. For all SE–SNe = 2.8 ± 1.5 M⊙ which further strengthens the evidence that SE–SNe arise from low-mass progenitors which are typically <5 M⊙ at the time of explosion, again suggesting MZAMS <25 M⊙. The low and lack of clear bimodality in the distribution implies <30 M⊙ progenitors and that envelope stripping via binary interaction is the dominant evolutionary pathway of these SNe.
ABSTRACT
How are accretion discs affected by their outflows? To address this question for white dwarfs accreting from cool giants, we performed optical, radio, X-ray, and ultraviolet observations of ...the outflow-driving symbiotic star MWC 560 (≡V694 Mon) during its 2016 optical high state. We tracked multi-wavelength changes that signalled an abrupt increase in outflow power at the initiation of a months-long outflow fast state, just as the optical flux peaked: (1) an abrupt doubling of Balmer absorption velocities; (2) the onset of a 20 μJy per month increase in radio flux; and (3) an order-of-magnitude increase in soft X-ray flux. Juxtaposing to prior X-ray observations and their coeval optical spectra, we infer that both high-velocity and low-velocity optical outflow components must be simultaneously present to yield a large soft X-ray flux, which may originate in shocks where these fast and slow absorbers collide. Our optical and ultraviolet spectra indicate that the broad absorption-line gas was fast, stable, and dense (≳106.5 cm−3) throughout the 2016 outflow fast state, steadily feeding a lower density (≲105.5 cm−3) region of radio-emitting gas. Persistent optical and ultraviolet flickering indicate that the accretion disc remained intact. The stability of these properties in 2016 contrasts to their instability during MWC 560’s 1990 outburst, even though the disc reached a similar accretion rate. We propose that the self-regulatory effect of a steady fast outflow from the disc in 2016 prevented a catastrophic ejection of the inner disc. This behaviour in a symbiotic binary resembles disc/outflow relationships governing accretion state changes in X-ray binaries.
The accretion of hydrogen onto a white dwarf star ignites a classical nova eruption
-a thermonuclear runaway in the accumulated envelope of gas, leading to luminosities up to a million times that of ...the Sun and a high-velocity mass ejection that produces a remnant shell (mainly consisting of insterstellar medium). Close to the upper mass limit of a white dwarf
(1.4 solar masses), rapid accretion of hydrogen (about 10
solar masses per year) from a stellar companion leads to frequent eruptions on timescales of years
to decades
. Such binary systems are known as recurrent novae. The ejecta of recurrent novae, initially moving at velocities of up to 10,000 kilometres per second
, must 'sweep up' the surrounding interstellar medium, creating cavities in space around the nova binary. No remnant larger than one parsec across from any single classical or recurrent nova eruption is known
, but thousands of successive recurrent nova eruptions should be capable of generating shells hundreds of parsecs across. Here we report that the most frequently recurring nova, M31N 2008-12a in the Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31 or NGC 224), which erupts annually
, is indeed surrounded by such a super-remnant with a projected size of at least 134 by 90 parsecs. Larger than almost all known remnants of even supernova explosions
, the existence of this shell demonstrates that the nova M31N 2008-12a has erupted with high frequency for millions of years.
The Andromeda Galaxy recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a had been caught in eruption eight times. The inter-eruption period of M31N 2008-12a is ~1 yr, making it the most rapidly recurring system known, and ...a strong single-degenerate Type Ia supernova progenitor candidate. Following the 2013 eruption, a campaign was initiated to detect the predicted 2014 eruption and to then perform high cadence optical photometric and spectroscopic monitoring using ground-based telescopes, along with rapid UV and X-ray follow-up with the Swift satellite. Here we report the results of a high cadence multi-colour optical monitoring campaign, the spectroscopic evolution, and the UV photometry. We also discuss tantalising evidence of a potentially related, vastly-extended, nebulosity. The 2014 eruption was discovered, before optical maximum, on October 2, 2014. We find that the optical properties of M31N 2008-12a evolve faster than all Galactic recurrent novae known, and all its eruptions show remarkable similarity both photometrically and spectroscopically. Optical spectra were obtained as early as 0.26 days post maximum, and again confirm the nova nature of the eruption. A significant deceleration of the inferred ejecta expansion velocity is observed which may be caused by interaction of the ejecta with surrounding material,possibly a red giant wind. We find a low ejected mass and low ejection velocity, which are consistent with high mass-accretion rate, high mass white dwarf, and short recurrence time models of novae. We encourage additional observations, especially around the predicted time of the next eruption, towards the end of 2015.
The recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a experiences annual eruptions, contains a near-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf, and has the largest mass accretion rate in any nova system. In this paper, we present ...Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/UVIS photometry of the late decline of the 2015 eruption. We couple these new data with archival HST observations of the quiescent system and Keck spectroscopy of the 2014 eruption. The late-time photometry reveals a rapid decline to a minimum luminosity state, before a possible recovery/rebrightening in the run up to the next eruption. Comparison with accretion disk models supports the survival of the accretion disk during the eruptions, and uncovers a quiescent disk mass accretion rate of the order of 10 − 6 M yr − 1 , which may rise beyond 10 − 5 M yr − 1 during the super-soft source phase-both of which could be problematic for a number of well-established nova eruption models. Such large accretion rates, close to the Eddington limit, might be expected to be accompanied by additional mass loss from the disk through a wind and even through collimated outflows. The archival HST observations, combined with the disk modeling, provide the first constraints on the mass donor: L donor = 103 − 11 + 12 L , R donor = 14.14 − 0.47 + 0.46 R , and T eff , donor = 4890 110 K, which may be consistent with an irradiated M31 red-clump star. Such a donor would require a system orbital period 5 days. Our updated analysis predicts that the M31N 2008-12a WD could reach the Chandrasekhar mass in < 20 kyr.
V745 Sco is a recurrent nova, with the most recent eruption occurring in February 2014. V745 Sco was first observed by Swift a mere 3.7 h after the announcement of the optical discovery, with the ...super-soft X-ray emission being detected around 4 d later and lasting for only ∼2 d, making it both the fastest follow-up of a nova by Swift and the earliest switch-on of super-soft emission yet detected. Such an early switch-on time suggests a combination of a very high velocity outflow and low ejected mass and, together with the high effective temperature reached by the super-soft emission, a high mass white dwarf (>1.3 M⊙). The X-ray spectral evolution was followed from an early epoch where shocked emission was evident, through the entirety of the super-soft phase, showing evolving column density, emission lines, absorption edges, and thermal continuum temperature. UV grism data were also obtained throughout the super-soft interval, with the spectra showing mainly emission lines from lower ionization transitions and the Balmer continuum in emission. V745 Sco is compared with both V2491 Cyg (another nova with a very short super-soft phase) and M31N 2008-12a (the most rapidly recurring nova yet discovered). The longer recurrence time compared to M31N 2008-12a could be due to a lower mass accretion rate, although inclination of the system may also play a part. Nova V745 Sco (2014) revealed the fastest evolving super-soft source phase yet discovered, providing a detailed and informative data set for study.
ABSTRACT
The Andromeda Galaxy is home to the annually erupting recurrent nova (RN) M 31N 2008-12a (12a); the first nova found to host a nova super-remnant (NSR). An NSR is an immense structure ...surrounding a RN, created from many millions of eruptions sweeping up material in the local environment to form a shell tens of parsecs across. Theory has demonstrated that NSRs should be found around all recurrent novae (RNe), even those systems with long periods between eruptions. Befittingly, the second NSR was found around the Galactic classical (and long suspected recurrent) nova, KT Eridani. In this Paper, we aim to find more of these phenomena through conducting the first ever survey for NSRs in M 31 and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We find that the surroundings of fourteen RNe in M 31 as well as the surroundings of the four RNe in the LMC do not show any evidence of vast parsec-scale structures in narrow-band (H α and ${\rm S\, {\small II}}$) images, unlike the one clearly seen around 12a, and therefore conclude that observable NSRs are either rare structures, or they are too faint (or small) to be detected in our existing data sets. Yet, the NSR surrounding 12a would also likely to have been overlooked in our study if it were approximately one magnitude fainter. Searches for NSRs around other RNe ‘masquerading’ as classical novae may prove to be fruitful as would whole surveys of other Local Group galaxies.
ABSTRACT
Cataclysmic variables (CV) encompass a diverse array of accreting white dwarf binary systems. Each class of CV represents a snapshot along an evolutionary journey, one with the potential to ...trigger a type Ia supernova event. The study of CVs offers valuable insights into binary evolution and accretion physics, with the rarest examples potentially providing the deepest insights. However, the escalating number of detected transients, coupled with our limited capacity to investigate them all, poses challenges in identifying such rarities. Machine learning (ML) plays a pivotal role in addressing this issue by facilitating the categorization of each detected transient into its respective transient class. Leveraging these techniques, we have developed a two-stage pipeline tailored to the Zwicky Transient Facility transient alert stream. The first stage is alerts filter aimed at removing non-CVs, while the latter is an ML classifier produced using Extreme Gradient Boosting, achieving a macro average area under the curve score of 0.92 for distinguishing between CV classes. By utilizing the generative topographic mapping algorithm with classifier posterior probabilities as input, we obtain representations indicating that CV evolutionary factors play a role in classifier performance, while the associated feature maps present a potent tool for identifying the features deemed most relevant for distinguishing between classes. Implementation of the pipeline in 2023 June yielded 51 intriguing candidates that are yet to be reported as CVs or classified with further granularity. Our classifier represents a significant step in the discovery and classification of different CV classes, a domain of research still in its infancy.
ABSTRACT
On 2021 August 8, the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) erupted again, after an interval of 15.5 yr. Regular monitoring by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory began promptly, on August 9.9 ...(0.37 d after the optical peak), and continued until the source passed behind the Sun at the start of November, 86 d later. Observations then restarted on day 197, once RS Oph emerged from the Sun constraint. This makes RS Oph the first Galactic recurrent nova to have been monitored by Swift throughout two eruptions. Here we investigate the extensive X-ray data sets between 2006 and 2021, as well as the more limited data collected by the European X-ray Observatory Satellite (EXOSAT) in 1985. The hard X-rays arising from shock interactions between the nova ejecta and red giant wind are similar following the last two eruptions. In contrast, the early supersoft source (SSS) in 2021 was both less variable and significantly fainter than in 2006. However, 0.3–1 keV light curves from 2021 reveal a 35 s quasi-periodic oscillation consistent in frequency with the 2006 data. The Swift X-ray spectra from 2021 are featureless, with the soft emission typically being well parametrized by a simple blackbody, while the 2006 spectra showed much stronger evidence for superimposed ionized absorption edges. Considering the data after day 60 following each eruption, during the supersoft phase the 2021 spectra are hotter, with smaller effective radii and lower wind absorption, leading to an apparently reduced bolometric luminosity. We explore possible explanations for the gross differences in observed SSS behaviour between the 2006 and 2021 outbursts.
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