No Arabic abstract
Resonance lines of $^7$Be are detected currently in five novae. Available abundances for this isotope estimated from equivalent widths of $^7$Be,II and Ca,II lines are significantly higher compared to predictions of models for the thermonuclear flash. In attempt to pinpoint the reason for this disparity we explore the possibility for the higher $^7$Be yield via computing kinetics of the thermonuclear burning in the framework of two-zone model and find that even for a favorable choice of parameters $^7$Be mass fraction does not exceed $3cdot10^{-5}$. This is consistent with known theoretical results and leaves the disparity between the theory and observations unresoved. We find that the contradiction is caused by the assumption that the ionization fraction of Be,II/Be is equal to that of Ca,II/Ca, which has been adopted formerly in order to estimate the $^7$Be abundance. In the case of nova V5668 Sgr the ionization fraction of Be,II/Be turns out to be at least by a factor of $sim 10$ higher compared to Ca,II/Ca due to the difference of ionization potentials. Our new estimate of the $^7$Be mass fraction for nova V5668 Sgr does not contradict the theory. The calculated flux of 478 keV gamma-quanta from the $^7$Be decay is consistent with the upper limit according to {em INTEGRAL} observations.
We report spectroscopic observations of the resonance lines of singly ionized $^{7}$Be in the blue-shifted absorption line systems found in the post-outburst spectra of two classical novae -- V5668 Sgr (Nova Sagittarii 2015 No.2) and V2944 Oph (Nova Ophiuchi 2015). The unstable isotope, $^{7}$Be, should has been created during the thermonuclear runaway (TNR) of these novae and decays to form $^{7}$Li within a short period (a half-life of 53.22 days). Confirmations of $^{7}$Be are the second and the third ones following the first case found in V339 Del by Tajitsu et al. (2015). The blue-shifted absorption line systems in both novae are clearly divided into two velocity components, both of which contain $^{7}$Be. This means that the absorbing gases in both velocity components consist of products of TNR. We estimate amounts of $^{7}$Be produced during outbursts of both novae and conclude that significant $^{7}$Li should have been created. These findings strongly suggest that the explosive production of $^{7}$Li via the reaction $^{3}$He($alpha$,$gamma$)$^{7}$Be and subsequent decay to $^{7}$Li occurs frequently among classical novae and contributes to the process of the Galactic Li enrichment.
We report the new detection of $^7$Be II in the ultraviolet spectra of V5669 Sgr during its early decline phase ($+24$ and $+28$ d). We identified three blue-shifted absorption systems in our spectra. The first two, referred to as low- and high-velocity components, were noticeably identified among H I Balmer, Na I D, and Fe II whose lower energies of transients are low ($<4$ eV). The third absorption component was identified among N II, He I, and C II lines whose lower energy levels are relatively high (9--21 eV). The absorption lines of $^7$Be II at $3130.583$ {AA}, and $3132.228$ {AA} were identified as the first and second components in our observations. No evidence suggested the existence of Li I at 6708 {AA} in any velocity components. The estimated number density ratio of lithium relative to hydrogen, which was finally produced by this object using the equivalent widths of $^7$Be and Ca II K, $N({rm ^{7}Li})/N({rm H})_{rm final}$ is $4.0pm0.7times10^{-6}$. This value is an order of magnitude lower than the average observed values for classical novae wherein $^7$Be has been detected, and is comparable to the most optimistic value of theoretical predictions.
We present near-infrared (NIR) observations of Nova V5668 Sgr, discovered in outburst on 2015 March 15.634 UT, between 2d to 107d after outburst. NIR spectral features are used to classify it as a FeII class of nova. The spectra follow the evolution of the spectral lines from a P Cygni stage to a pure emission phase where the shape of the profiles suggests the presence of a bipolar flow. A notable feature is the presence of carbon monoxide first overtone bands which are seen in emission. The CO emission is modeled to make estimates of the mass, temperature and column density to be (0.5--2.0)$times$ 10$^{-8}$ M$_odot$, 4000 $pm$ 300K and (0.36--1.94)$times$ 10$^{19}$ cm$^{-2}$ respectively. The $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C ratio is estimated to be $sim$ 1.5. V5668 Sgr was a strong dust producer exhibiting the classical deep dip in its optical light curve during dust formation. Analysis of the dust SED yields a dust mass of 2.7 $times$ 10${^{rm -7}}$ $M_odot $, a blackbody angular diameter of the dust shell of 42 mas and a distance estimate to the nova of 1.54 kpc which agrees with estimates made from MMRD relations.
We present 5-28 micron SOFIA FORECAST spectroscopy complemented by panchromatic X-ray through infrared observations of the CO nova V5668 Sgr documenting the formation and destruction of dust during 500 days following outburst. Dust condensation commenced by 82 days after outburst at a temperature of 1090 K. The condensation temperature indicates that the condensate was amorphous carbon. There was a gradual decrease of the grain size and dust mass during the recovery phase. Absolute parameter values given here are for an assumed distance of 1.2 kpc. We conclude that the maximum mass of dust produced was 1.2 x 10-7 solar masses if the dust was amorphous carbon. The average grain radius grew to a maximum of 2.9 microns at a temperature of 720 K around day 113 when the shell visual optical depth was Tau = 5.4. Maximum grain growth was followed by followed by a period of grain destruction. X-rays were detected with Swift from day 95 to beyond day 500. The Swift X-ray count rate due to the hot white dwarf peaked around day 220, when its spectrum was that of a kT = 35 eV blackbody. The temperature, together with the super-soft X-ray turn-on and turn-off times, suggests a WD mass of 1.1 solar masses. We show that the X-ray fluence was sufficient to destroy the dust. Our data show that the post-dust event X-ray brightening is not due to dust destruction, which certainly occurred, as the dust is optically thin to X-rays.
INTEGRAL observed the nova V5668 Sgr around the time of its optical maximum on March 21, 2015. Studies at UV wavelengths showed spectral lines of freshly produced Be-7. This could be measurable also in gamma-rays at 478 keV from the decay to Li-7. Novae are also expected to synthesise Na-22 which decays to Ne-22, emitting a 1275 keV photon. About one week before the optical maximum, a strong gamma-ray flash on time-scales of hours is expected from short-lived radioactive nuclei, such as N-13 and F-18. These beta-plus-unstable nuclei should yield emission up to 511 keV, but which has never been observed. The spectrometer SPI aboard INTEGRAL pointed towards V5668 by chance. We use these observations to search for possible gamma-ray emission of decaying Be-7, and to directly measure the synthesised mass during explosive burning. We also aim to constrain possible burst-like emission days to weeks before the optical maximum using the SPI anticoincidence shield (ACS). We extract spectral and temporal information to determine the fluxes of gamma-ray lines at 478 keV, 511 keV, and 1275 keV. A measured flux value directly converts into abundances produced by the nova. The SPI-ACS rates are analysed for burst-like emission using a nova model light-curve. For the obtained nova flash candidate events, we discuss possible origins. No significant excess for the expected gamma-ray lines is found. Our upper limits on the synthesised Be-7 and Na-22 mass depend on the uncertainties of the distance to the nova: The Be-7 mass is constrained to less than $4.8times10^{-9},(d/kpc)^2$, and Na-22 to less than $2.4times10^{-8},(d/kpc)^2$ solar masses. For the Be-7 mass estimate from UV studies, the distance to V5668 Sgr must be larger than 1.2 kpc. During three weeks before the optical maximum, we find 23 burst-like events in the ACS rate, of which six could possibly be associated with V5668 Sgr.