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Register a new userGas phase SiO in the circumstellar environment of the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis
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We report the discovery of the diatomic molecule SiO in the gas phase in the environment of the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis. While some of the SiO is photospheric, a substantial portion must arise in the wind from the red giant component of T CrB. A simple fit to the SiO feature, assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, suggests a SiO column density of 2.8x10^17 /cm2 and temperature ~1000K; the SiO column density is similar to that present in the winds of field red giants. A search for SiO maser emission is encouraged both before and after the next anticipated eruption. We find that the 12C/13C ratio in the red giant is <9, with a best fit value of ~5, a factor ~18 times lower than the solar value of 89. We find no convincing evidence for the presence of dust in the environment of T CrB, which we attribute to the destructive effects on nucleation sites of hard X-ray emission. When the next eruption of T CrB occurs, the ejected material will shock the wind, producing X-ray and coronal line emission, as is the case for the recurrent nova RS Oph. T CrB is also a good candidate for very high energy gamma-ray emission, as first observed during the 2010 outburst of V407 Cyg. We include in the paper a wide variety of infrared spectroscopic and photometric data.
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We report the determination of abundances and isotopic ratios for C, O and Si in the photosphere of the red giant component of the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis from new 2.284--2.402 $mu$m and 3.985--4.155 $mu$m spectroscopy. Abundances and isotopic ratios in the photosphere may be affected by (i) processes in the red giant interior which are brought to the surface during dredge-up, (ii) contamination of the red giant, either during the common envelope phase of the binary evolution or by material synthesised in recurrent nova eruptions, or a combination of the two. We find that the abundances of C, O and Si are reasonably consistent with the expected composition of a red giant after first dredge-up, as is the $^{16}$O/$^{17}$O ratio. The $^{28}$Si/$^{29}$Si ratio is found to be $8.6pm3.0$, and that for $^{28}$Si/$^{30}$Si is $21.5pm3.0$. The $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C ratio ($10pm2$) is somewhat lower than expected for first dredge-up. The $^{16}$O/$^{18}$O ratio ($41pm3$) is highly inconsistent with that expected either from red giant evolution ($sim550$) or from contamination of the red giant by the products of a nova thermonuclear runaway. In particular the C and O isotopic ratios taken in combination are a puzzle. We urge confirmation of our results using spectroscopy at high resolution. We also encourage a thorough theoretical study of the effects on the secondary star in a recurrent nova system of contamination by ejecta having anomalous abundances and isotopic ratios.
A sudden increase in the rate at which material reaches the most internal part of an accretion disk, i.e. the boundary layer, can change its structure dramatically. We have witnessed such change for the first time in the symbiotic recurrent nova T CrB. Our analysis of XMM-Newton, Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT)/ X-Ray Telescope (XRT) / UltraViolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) and American Association of Variable Stars Observers (AAVSO) V and B-band data indicates that during an optical brightening event that started in early 2014 ($Delta$ V$approx$1.5): (i) the hard X-ray emission as seen with BAT almost vanished; (ii) the XRT X-ray flux decreased significantly while the optical flux remained high; (iii) the UV flux increased by at least a factor of 40 over the quiescent value; and (iv) the X-ray spectrum became much softer and a bright, new, blackbody-like component appeared. We suggest that the optical brightening event, which could be a similar event to that observed about 8 years before the most recent thermonuclear outburst in 1946, is due to a disk instability
In 2007, R Coronae Borealis (R CrB) went into an historically deep and long decline. In this state, the dust acts like a natural coronagraph at visible wavelengths, allowing faint nebulosity around the star to be seen. Imaging has been obtained from 0.5 to 500 micron with Gemini/GMOS, HST/WFPC2, Spitzer/MIPS, and Herschel/SPIRE. Several of the structures around R CrB are cometary globules caused by wind from the star streaming past dense blobs. The estimated dust mass of the knots is consistent with their being responsible for the R CrB declines if they form along the line of sight to the star. In addition, there is a large diffuse shell extending up to 4 pc away from the star containing cool 25 K dust that is detected all the way out to 500 micron. The SED of R CrB can be well fit by a 150 AU disk surrounded by a very large diffuse envelope which corresponds to the size of the observed nebulosity. The total masses of the disk and envelope are 10^-4 and 2 M(Sun), respectively, assuming a gas-to-dust ratio of 100. The evidence pointing toward a white-dwarf merger or a final-helium-shell flash origin for R CrB is contradictory. The shell and the cometary knots are consistent with a fossil planetary nebula. Along with the fact that R CrB shows significant Lithium in its atmosphere, this supports the final-helium-shell flash. However, the relatively high inferred mass of R CrB and its high fluorine abundance support a white-dwarf merger.
The R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are rare hydrogen-deficient, carbon-rich, supergiants, best known for their spectacular declines in brightness at irregular intervals. Efforts to discover more RCB stars have more than doubled the number known in the last few years and they appear to be members of an old, bulge population. Two evolutionary scenarios have been suggested for producing an RCB star, a double degenerate merger of two white dwarfs, or a final helium shell flash in a planetary nebula central star. The evidence pointing toward one or the other is somewhat contradictory, but the discovery that RCB stars have large amounts of 18O has tilted the scales towards the merger scenario. If the RCB stars are the product of white dwarf mergers, this would be a very exciting result since RCB stars would then be low-mass analogs of type Ia supernovae. The predicted number of RCB stars in the Galaxy is consistent with the predicted number of He/CO WD mergers. But, so far, only about 65 of the predicted 5000 RCB stars in the Galaxy have been discovered. The mystery has yet to be solved.
The nova outburst of V407 Cyg in 2010 Mar. 10 was the first observed for this star but its close resemblance to the well known symbiotic-like recurrent nova RS Oph suggests that it is also a member of this rare type of Galactic novae. The nova was the first detected at $gamma$-ray energies and is the first known nova explosion for this system. The extensive multiwavelength coverage of this outburst makes it an ideal comparison with the few other outbursts known for similar systems. We extend our previous analysis of the Mira and the expanding shock from the explosion to detail the time development of the photoionized Mira wind, circumstellar medium, and shocked circumstellar environment to derive their physical parameters and how they relate to large scale structure of the environment, extending the previous coverage to more than 500 days after outburst. Absorption lines of Fe-peak ions formed in the Mira wind were visible as P Cyg profiles at low velocity before Day 69, around the time of the X-ray peak and we identified many absorption transitions without accompanying emission for metal lines. The H Balmer lines showed strong P Cyg absorption troughs that weakened during the 2010 observing period, through Day 128. We distinguish the components from the shock, the photoionized environment, and the chromosphere and inner Mira wind using spectra taken more than one year after outburst. The multiple shells and radiative excitation phenomenology are similar to those recently cited for GRBs and SNIa (severely truncated)
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