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.
ABSTRACT
We present the Living Swift-XRT Point Source (LSXPS) catalogue and real-time transient detector. This system allows us for the first time to carry out low-latency searches for new transient ...X-ray events fainter than those available to the current generation of wide-field imagers, and report their detection in near real time. Previously, such events could only be found in delayed searches, e.g. of archival data; our low-latency analysis now enables rapid and ongoing follow-up of these events, enabling the probing of time-scales previously inaccessible. The LSXPS is, uniquely among X-ray catalogues, updated in near real time, making this the first up-to-date record of the point sources detected by a sensitive X-ray telescope: the SwiftX-ray Telescope. The associated upper limit calculator likewise makes use of all available data allowing contemporary upper limits to be rapidly produced on demand. These facilities, which enable the low-latency transient system, are also fully available to the community, providing a powerful resource for time-domain and multimessenger astrophysics.
The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (ALIGO) observatory recently reported the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GW) which triggered ALIGO on 2015 September ...14. We report on observations taken with the Swift satellite two days after the trigger. No new X-ray, optical, UV or hard X-ray sources were detected in our observations, which were focused on nearby galaxies in the GW error region and covered 4.7 deg2 (∼2 per cent of the probability in the rapidly available GW error region; 0.3 per cent of the probability from the final GW error region, which was produced several months after the trigger). We describe the rapid Swift response and automated analysis of the X-ray telescope and UV/Optical telescope data, and note the importance to electromagnetic follow-up of early notification of the progenitor details inferred from GW analysis.
Abstract
We present near-infrared spectroscopy of Nova Herculis 2021 (V1674 Her), obtained over the first 70 days of its evolution. This fastest nova on record displays a rich emission line spectrum, ...including strong coronal line emission with complex structures. The hydrogen line fluxes, combined with a distance of
4.7
−
1.0
+
1.3
kpc, give an upper limit to the hydrogen ejected mass of
M
ej
=
1.4
−
1.2
+
0.8
×
10
−
3
M
⊙
. The coronal lines appeared at day 11.5, the earliest onset yet observed for any classical nova, before there was an obvious source of ionizing radiation. We argue that the gas cannot be photoionized, at least in the earliest phase, and must be shocked. Its temperature is estimated to be 10
5.57±0.05
K on day 11.5. Tentative analysis indicates a solar abundance of aluminum and an underabundance of calcium, relative to silicon, with respect to solar values in the ejecta. Further, we show that the vexing problem of whether collisional ionization or photoionization is responsible for coronal emission in classical novae can be resolved by correlating the temporal sequence in which the X-ray supersoft phase and the near-infrared coronal line emission appear.
Abstract
We report on multiwavelength observations of nova Small Magellanic Cloud Nova 2016-10a. The present observational set is one of the most comprehensive for any nova in the Small Magellanic ...Cloud, including low-, medium-, and high-resolution optical spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry from Southern African Large Telescope, Folded Low-Order Yte-Pupil Double-Dispersed Spectrograph, and Southern Astrophysical Research; long-term Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment V- and I-bands photometry dating back to 6 yr before eruption; Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System optical and near-IR photometry from ∼11 d until over 280 d post-eruption; Swift satellite X-ray and ultraviolet observations from ∼6 d until 319 d post-eruption. The progenitor system contains a bright disc and a main sequence or a sub-giant secondary. The nova is very fast with t2 ≃ 4.0 ± 1.0 d and t3 ≃ 7.8 ± 2.0 d in the V band. If the nova is in the SMC, at a distance of ∼61 ± 10 kpc, we derive MV, max ≃ −10.5 ± 0.5, making it the brightest nova ever discovered in the SMC and one of the brightest on record. At day 5 post-eruption the spectral lines show a He/N spectroscopic class and an Full Width at Half Maximum of ∼3500 km s−1, indicating moderately high ejection velocities. The nova entered the nebular phase ∼20 d post-eruption, predicting the imminent super-soft source turn-on in the X-rays, which started ∼28 d post-eruption. The super-soft source properties indicate a white dwarf mass between 1.2 and 1.3 M⊙ in good agreement with the optical conclusions.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we report on the observational performance of the Swift Ultra-violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) in response to the gravitational wave (GW) alerts announced by the Advanced Laser ...Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory and the Advanced Virgo detector during the O3 period. We provide the observational strategy for follow-up of GW alerts and provide an overview of the processing and analysis of candidate optical/UV sources. For the O3 period, we also provide a statistical overview and report on serendipitous sources discovered by Swift/UVOT. Swift followed 18 GW candidate alerts, with UVOT observing a total of 424 deg2. We found 27 sources that changed in magnitude at the 3σ level compared with archival u- or g-band catalogued values. Swift/UVOT also followed up a further 13 sources reported by other facilities during the O3 period. Using catalogue information, we divided these 40 sources into five initial classifications: 11 candidate active galactic nuclei (AGNs)/quasars, three cataclysmic variables (CVs), nine supernovae, 11 unidentified sources that had archival photometry, and six uncatalogued sources for which no archival photometry was available. We have no strong evidence to identify any of these transients as counterparts to the GW events. The 17 unclassified sources are likely a mix of AGN and a class of fast-evolving transient, and one source may be a CV.
Abstract
We report extensive 3-yr multiwavelength observations of the WZ Sge-type dwarf nova SSS J122221.7−311525 during its unusual double superoutburst, the following decline and in quiescence. The ...second segment of the superoutburst had a long duration of 33 d and a very gentle decline with a rate of 0.02 mag d−1, and it displayed an extended post-outburst decline lasting at least 500 d. Simultaneously with the start of the rapid fading from the superoutburst plateau, the system showed the appearance of a strong near-infrared excess resulting in very red colours, which reached extreme values (B − I ≃ 1.4) about 20 d later. The colours then became bluer again, but it took at least 250 d to acquire a stable level. Superhumps were clearly visible in the light curve from our very first time-resolved observations until at least 420 d after the rapid fading from the superoutburst. The spectroscopic and photometric data revealed an orbital period of 109.80 min and a fractional superhump period excess ≲0.8 per cent, indicating a very low mass ratio q ≲ 0.045. With such a small mass ratio the donor mass should be below the hydrogen-burning minimum mass limit. The observed infrared flux in quiescence is indeed much lower than is expected from a cataclysmic variable with a near-main-sequence donor star. This strongly suggests a brown-dwarf-like nature for the donor and that SSS J122221.7−311525 has already evolved away from the period minimum towards longer periods, with the donor now extremely dim.
Context. Classical novae are the product of thermonuclear runaway-initiated explosions occurring on accreting white dwarfs. Aims. V339 Del (Nova Delphinus 2013) was one of the brightest classical ...novae of the last hundred years. Spectroscopy and photometry are available from γ-rays through infrared at stages that have frequently not been observed well. The complete data set is intended to provide a benchmark for comparison with modeling and for understanding more sparsely monitored historical classical and recurrent novae. This paper is the first in the series of reports on the development of the nova. We report here on the early stages of the outburst, through the X-ray active stage. Methods. A time sequence of optical, flux calibrated high resolution spectra was obtained with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) using FIES simultaneously, or contemporaneously, with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope during the early stages of the outburst. These were supplemented with Mercator/HERMES optical spectra. High resolution IUE ultraviolet spectra of OS And 1986, taken during the Fe curtain phase, served as a template for the distance determination. We used standard plasma diagnostics (e.g., O III and N II line ratios, and the Hβ line flux) to constrain electron densities and temperatures of the ejecta. Using Monte Carlo modeling of the ejecta, we derived the structure, filling factor, and mass from comparisons of the optical and ultraviolet line profiles. Results. We derive an extinction of E(B − V) = 0.23 ± 0.05 from the spectral energy distribution, the interstellar absorption, and H I emission lines. The distance, about 4−4.5 kpc, is in agreement with the inferred distance from near infrared interferometry. The maximum velocity was about 2500 km s-1, measured from the UV resonance and optical profiles. The ejecta showed considerable fine structure in all transitions, much of which persisted as emission knots. The line profiles were modeled using a bipolar conical structure for the ejecta within a relatively restricted range of parameters. For V339 Del, we find that an inclination to the line of sight of about 35°−55°, an opening angle of 60°−80°, and an inner radius ΔR/R(t) ≈ 0.3 based on vrad,max matches the permitted and intercombination lines. The filling factor is f ≈ 0.1, and the derived range in the ejecta mass is (2−3) × 10-5M⊙.
ABSTRACT
We present near-infrared spectroscopy of the 2022 eruption of the recurrent nova U Sco, over the period from 5.4 to 45.6 d after outburst. This is the most intensive infrared study of this ...nova. Our observations started early after the outburst and extended almost to the end of the ‘Super Soft’ X-ray phase. A major find is the presence of coronal lines from day 9.41, one of the earliest appearances of these in any nova, classical, or recurrent. The temperature of the coronal gas is 7 × 105 K. There is also evidence for the presence of much cooler ($\lesssim 2.5\times 10^4$ K) gas. Remarkable changes are seen in the He i 1.083 $\, \mu$ m line, the strength of which declines, then recovers, in anticorrelation with the X-ray behaviour. We conclude that shock ionization is the dominant excitation mechanism for the coronal line emission. There is evidence in the infrared spectra for the presence of black body emission at ∼20 000 K, which we tentatively identify with the irradiated secondary, and for free-free/free-bound emission. For the previously determined binary inclination of 82.7°, the implied ejection velocities are as high as 22 000 km s−1. These velocities appear unprecedented in nova outflows, and are comparable to those seen in supernovae, thereby marking U Sco as a truly remarkable object.