No Arabic abstract
We describe the highly variable X-ray and UV emission of V458 Vul (Nova Vul 2007), observed by Swift between 1 and 422 days after outburst. Initially bright only in the UV, V458 Vul became a variable hard X-ray source due to optically thin thermal emission at kT=0.64 keV with an X-ray band unabsorbed luminosity of 2.3x10^{34} erg s^{-1} during days 71-140. The X-ray spectrum at this time requires a low Fe abundance (0.2^{+0.3}_{-0.1} solar), consistent with a Suzaku measurement around the same time. On day 315 we find a new X-ray spectral component which can be described by a blackbody with temperature of kT=23^{+9}_{-5} eV, while the previous hard X-ray component has declined by a factor of 3.8. The spectrum of this soft X-ray component resembles those typically seen in the class of supersoft sources (SSS) which suggests that the nova ejecta were starting to clear and/or that the WD photosphere is shrinking to the point at which its thermal emission reaches into the X-ray band. We find a high degree of variability in the soft component with a flare rising by an order of magnitude in count rate in 0.2 days. In the following observations on days 342.4-383.6, the soft component was not seen, only to emerge again on day 397. The hard component continued to evolve, and we found an anticorrelation between the hard X-ray emission and the UV emission, yielding a Spearman rank probability of 97%. After day 397, the hard component was still present, was variable, and continued to fade at an extremely slow rate but could not be analysed owing to pile up contamination from the bright SSS component.
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 novas 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$times$ 10$^{-5}$M$_{odot}$. 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$^{-3}$.
CK Vulpeculae was observed in outburst in 1670-16721, but no counterpart was seen until 1982, when a bipolar nebula was found at its location. Historically, CK Vul has been considered to be a nova (Nova Vul 1670), but a similarity to red transients, which are more luminous than classical nova and thought to be the result of stellar collisions, has re-opened the question of CK Vuls status. Red transients cool to resemble late M-type stars, surrounded by circumstellar material rich in molecules and dust. No stellar source has been seen in CK Vul, though a radio continuum source was identified at the expansion centre of the nebula. Here we report CK Vul is surrounded by chemically rich molecular gas with peculiar isotopic ratios, as well as dust. The chemical composition cannot be reconciled with a nova or indeed any other known explosion. In addition, the mass of the surrounding gas is too high for a nova, though the conversion from observations of CO to a total mass is uncertain. We conclude that CK Vul is best explained as the remnant of a merger of two stars.
We conducted a target of opportunity X-ray observation of the classical nova V458 Vulpeculae 88 days after the explosion using the Suzaku satellite. With a 20 ks exposure, the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer detected X-ray emission significantly harder than typical super-soft source emission. The X-ray spectrum shows K lines from N, Ne, Mg, Si, and S, and L-series emission from Fe in highly ionized states. The spectrum can be described by a single temperature (0.64 keV) thin thermal plasma model in collisional equilibrium with a hydrogen-equivalent extinction column density of ~3e21/cm2, a flux of ~1e-12 erg/s/cm2, and a luminosity of ~6e34 erg/s in the 0.3-3.0 keV band at an assumed distance of 13 kpc. We found a hint of an enhancement of N and deficiencies of O and Fe relative to other metals. The observed X-ray properties can be interpreted as the emission arising from shocks of ejecta from an ONe-type nova.
Nova Mon 2012 is the third gamma-ray transient identified with a thermonuclear runaway on a white dwarf, that is, a nova event. Swift monitoring has revealed the distinct evolution of the harder and super-soft X-ray spectral components, while Swift-UV and V and I-band photometry show a gradual decline with subtle changes of slope. During the super-soft emission phase, a coherent 7.1 hr modulation was found in the soft X-ray, UV, optical and near-IR data, varying in phase across all wavebands. Assuming this period to be orbital, the system has a near-main sequence secondary, with little appreciable stellar wind. This distinguishes it from the first GeV nova, V407 Cyg, where the gamma-rays were proposed to form through shock-accelerated particles as the ejecta interacted with the red giant wind. We favor a model in which the gamma-rays arise from the shock of the ejecta with material close to the white dwarf in the orbital plane. This suggests that classical novae may commonly be GeV sources. We ascribe the orbital modulation to a raised section of an accretion disk passing through the line of sight, periodically blocking and reflecting much of the emission. The disk must, therefore, have reformed by day 150 after outburst.
We present extensive, high-density Swift observations of V2491 Cyg (Nova Cyg 2008 No. 2). Observing the X-ray emission from only one day after the nova discovery, the source is followed through the initial brightening, the Super-Soft Source phase and back to the pre-outburst flux level. The evolution of the spectrum throughout the outburst is demonstrated. The UV and X-ray light-curves follow very different paths, although changes occur in them around the same times, indicating a link between the bands. Flickering in the late-time X-ray data indicates the resumption of accretion. We show that if the white dwarf is magnetic, it would be among the most magnetic known; the lack of a periodic signal in our later data argues against a magnetic white dwarf, however. We also discuss the possibility that V2491 Cyg is a recurrent nova, providing recurrence timescale estimates.