A Spectroscopic study of the envelope of the hybrid nova V458 Vul and the surrounding planetary nebula

Abstract

Spectroscopic observations of the hybrid V458 Vul obtained between days 9 and 778 after the brightness maximum are analyzed. Short-period, daily profile variations of forbidden [FeVII] iron lines were detected in the nebular phase, as well as a long-period (about 60-day) cyclic variation that was correlated with the photometric and X-ray cycles. The abundances of helium, neon, and iron in the nova's envelope have been estimated. The helium, neon, and iron abundances exceed the solar values by factors of 4.4, 4.8, and 3.7. The envelope mass is 1.4× 10 −5 M ⊙ . The electron temperatures and number densities have been calculated for the Northwestern and Southeastern knots of the planetary nebula. The temperature derived for the Northwestern knot is Te = 10 000 K and the electron number density, n e = 600 cm −3 for the Southeastern knot, Te = 13 000 K and n e = 750 cm −3 .