<i>Swift</i>Observations of the 2006 Outburst of the Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi. I. Early X‐Ray Emission from the Shocked Ejecta and Red Giant Wind

Bode, M. F.; O’Brien, T. J.; Osborne, J. P.; Page, K. L.; Senziani, F.; Skinner, G.; Starrfield, S.; Ness, J. U.; Drake, J. J.; Schwarz, G. J.; Beardmore, A. P.; Darnley, M. J.; Eyres, S. P. S.; Evans, A.; Gehrels, N.; Goad, M. R.; Jean, P.; Krautter, J.; Novara, G.

doi:10.1086/507980

Cited by 138 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Assuming this corresponds to the velocity of the shock wave resulting from the explosion, then gas would be heated to ~4×10 7 K, consistent with temperatures in the range (0.2-7)×10 7 K inferred from Xray observations with the Swift, Chandra and RXTE satellites 10,13,23 . This scenario is also consistent with our observed brightness temperatures.…”

supporting

confidence: 74%

An asymmetric shock wave in the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi

O’Brien

Bode

Porcas

et al. 2006

Nature

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178

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Nova outbursts 1 take place in binary star systems comprising a white dwarf and either a low-mass Sun-like star or, as in the case of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi 2 , a red giant.Although the cause of these outbursts is known to be thermonuclear explosion of matter transferred from the companion onto the surface of the white dwarf 3 , models of the previous (1985) outburst of RS Ophiuchi failed to adequately fit the X-ray evolution 4 and there was controversy over a single-epoch high-resolution radio image, which suggested that the remnant was bipolar 5,6 rather than spherical as modelled. Here we report the detection of spatially resolved structure in RS Ophiuchi from two weeks after its 12 February 2006 outburst. We track an expanding shock wave as it sweeps through the red giant wind, producing a remnant similar to that of a type II supernova but evolving over months rather than millennia 7 . As in supernova remnants, the radio emission is non-thermal (synchrotron emission), but asymmetries and multiple emission components clearly demonstrate that contrary to the assumptions of spherical symmetry in models of the 1985 explosion, the ejection is jet-like, collimated by the central binary whose orientation on the sky can be determined from these observations. During the previous outburst of RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) in 1985 a campaign was organized incorporating observations ranging from radio to X-ray wavelengths. The results included the detection of bright, evolving X-ray emission from hot gas suggested to arise from the expanding shock wave 8 . This time we have monitored RS Oph from much earlier in the outburst, both in X-rays [9][10][11][12][13] , and at radio wavelengths with the Multi-Element RadioLinked Interferometer Network (MERLIN), the Very Large Array (VLA), the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the European VLBI Network (EVN) [14][15][16] .

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supporting

confidence: 74%

An asymmetric shock wave in the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi

O’Brien

Bode

Porcas

et al. 2006

Nature

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178

170

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“…Similarly, the timescale after outburst for the onset of the SSS phase, t on , is also a function of M WD in the sense that t on is likely to be shorter for systems containing a high mass WD. As noted above, both U Sco and RS Oph have very short observed t on of 20 days (Kahabka et al 1999) and 30 days (Bode et al 2006) respectively. In both cases, the WD mass is determined to be approaching the Chandrasekhar mass limit of M Ch ∼ 1.4 M (Kahabka et al 1999;.…”

Section: Constraints From the X-ray Datamentioning

confidence: 90%

OPTICAL AND X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF M31N 2007-12b: AN EXTRAGALACTIC RECURRENT NOVA WITH A DETECTED PROGENITOR?

Bode

Darnley

Shafter

et al. 2009

ApJ

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We report combined optical and X-ray observations of nova M31N 2007-12b. Optical spectroscopy obtained 5 days after the 2007 December outburst shows evidence of very high ejection velocities (FWHM Hα 4500 km s −1 ). In addition, Swift X-ray data show that M31N 2007-12b is associated with a Super-Soft Source (SSS) which appeared between 21 and 35 days post-outburst and turned off between then and day 169. Our analysis implies that M WD 1.3 M in this system. The optical light curve, spectrum, and X-ray behavior are consistent with those of a recurrent nova. Hubble Space Telescope observations of the pre-outburst location of M31N 2007-12b reveal the presence of a coincident stellar source with magnitude and color very similar to the Galactic recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi at quiescence, where the red giant secondary dominates the emission. We believe that this is the first occasion on which a nova progenitor system has been identified in M31. However, the greatest similarities of outburst optical spectrum and SSS behavior are with the supposed Galactic recurrent nova V2491 Cygni. A previously implied association of M31N 2007-12b with nova M31N 1969-08a is shown to be erroneous, and this has important lessons for future searches for recurrent novae in extragalactic systems. Overall, we show that suitable complementary X-ray and optical observations can be used not only to identify recurrent nova candidates in M31, but also to determine subtypes and important physical parameters of these systems. Prospects are therefore good for extending studies of recurrent novae into the Local Group with the potential to explore in more detail such important topics as their proposed link to Type Ia Supernovae.

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“…The hard component of CI Aql (R2) was detected 34 and 95 days after outburst at about 7 ; 10 30 ergs s À1 (Greiner & di Stefano 2002) using the distance of 2.6 kpc ( Lynch et al 2004). In contrast, RS Oph (R3) reached a luminosity in excess of >10 35 ergs s À1 shortly after the outburst peak (Sokoloski et al 2006;Bode et al 2006). In Figure 1 we plot only the observed 2Y10 keV luminosity from early Swift observations for RS Oph; RXTE measurements are similar.…”

Section: Novae As X-ray Transientsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Novae as a Class of Transient X‐Ray Sources

Mukai

Orio

Valle

2008

ApJ

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Motivated by the recently discovered class of faint (10 34 Y10 35 ergs s À1 ) X-ray transients in the Galactic center region, we investigate the 2Y10 keV properties of classical and recurrent novae. Existing data are consistent with the idea that all classical novae are transient X-ray sources with durations of months to years and peak luminosities in the 10 34 Y10 35 ergs s À1 range. This makes classical novae a viable candidate class for the faint Galactic center transients. We estimate the rate of classical novae within a 15 0 radius region centered on the Galactic center (roughly the field of view of XMM-Newton observations centered on Sgr A*) to be $0.1 yr À1 . Therefore, it is plausible that some of the Galactic center transients that have been announced to date are unrecognized classical novae. The continuing monitoring of the Galactic center region carried out by Chandra and XMM-Newton may therefore provide a new method to detect classical novae in this crowded and obscured region, where optical surveys are not, and can never hope to be, effective. Therefore, X-ray monitoring may provide the best means of testing the completeness of the current understanding of the nova populations.

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SwiftObservations of the 2006 Outburst of the Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi. I. Early X‐Ray Emission from the Shocked Ejecta and Red Giant Wind

Cited by 138 publications

References 22 publications

An asymmetric shock wave in the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi

An asymmetric shock wave in the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi

OPTICAL AND X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF M31N 2007-12b: AN EXTRAGALACTIC RECURRENT NOVA WITH A DETECTED PROGENITOR?

Novae as a Class of Transient X‐Ray Sources

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