Optical observations of hot novae returning to quiescence

We have monitored the return to quiescence of novae previously observed in outburst as supersoft X-ray sources, with optical photometry of the intermediate polar (IP) V4743 Sgr and candidate IP V2491 Cyg, and optical spectroscopy of these two and seven other systems. Our sample includes classical and recurrent novae, short period (few hours), intermediate period (1-2 days) and long period (symbiotic) binaries. The light curves of V4743 Sgr and V2491 Cyg present clear periodic modulations. For V4743 Sgr, the modulation occurs with the beat of the rotational and orbital periods. If the period measured for V2491 Cyg is also the beat of these two periods, the orbital one should be almost 17 hours. The recurrent nova T Pyx already shows fragmentation of the nebular shell less than 3 years after the outburst. While this nova still had strong [OIII] at this post-outburst epoch, these lines had already faded after 3 to 7 years in all the others. We did not find any difference in the ratio of equivalent widths of high ionization/excitation lines to that of the Hbeta line in novae with short and long orbital period, indicating that irradiation does not trigger high mass transfer rate from secondaries with small orbital separation. An important difference between the spectra of RS Oph and V3890 Sgr and those of many symbiotic persistent supersoft sources is the absence of forbidden coronal lines. With the X-rays turn-off, we interpret this as an indication that mass transfer in symbiotics recurrent novae is intermittent.

Multi-mission observations of the old nova GK Per during the 2015 outburst

GK Per, a classical nova of 1901, is thought to undergo variable mass accretion on to a magnetized white dwarf (WD) in an intermediate polar system (IP). We organized a multi-mission observational campaign in the X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) energy ranges during its dwarf nova (DN) outburst in 2015 March-April. Comparing data from quiescence and near outburst, we have found that the maximum plasma temperature decreased from about 26 to 16.2+/-0.4 keV. This is consistent with the previously proposed scenario of increase in mass accretion rate while the inner radius of the magnetically disrupted accretion disc shrinks, thereby lowering the shock temperature. A NuSTAR observation also revealed a high-amplitude WD spin modulation of the very hard X-rays with a single-peaked profile, suggesting an obscuration of the lower accretion pole and an extended shock region on the WD surface. The X-ray spectrum of GK Per measured with the Swift X-Ray Telescope varied on time-scales of days and also showed a gradual increase of the soft X-ray flux below 2 keV, accompanied by a decrease of the hard flux above 2 keV. In the Chandra observation with the High Energy Transmission Gratings, we detected prominent emission lines, especially of Ne, Mg and Si, where the ratios of H-like to He-like transition for each element indicate a much lower temperature than the underlying continuum. We suggest that the X-ray emission in the 0.8-2 keV range originates from the magnetospheric boundary.

X-ray observations of VY Scl type nova-like binaries in the high and low state

Four VY Scl-type nova-like systems were observed in X-rays during both the low and the high optical states. We examined Chandra, ROSAT, Swift and Suzaku archival observations of BZ Cam, MV Lyr, TT Ari, and V794 Aql. The X-ray flux of BZ Cam is higher during the low state, but there is no supersoft X-ray source (SSS) as hypothesized in previous articles. No SSS was detected in the low state of the any of the other systems, with the X-ray flux decreasing by a factor between 2 and 50. The best fit to the Swift X-ray spectra is obtained with a multi-component model of plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium. The high state high resolution spectra of TT Ari taken with Chandra ACIS-S and the HETG gratings show a rich emission line spectrum, with prominent lines of in Mg, Si, Ne, and S. The complexity of this spectrum seems to have origin in more than one region, or more than one single physical mechanism. While several emission lines are consistent with a cooling flow in an accretion stream, there is at least an additional component. We discuss the origin of this component, which is probably arising in a wind from the system. We also examine the possibility that the VY Scl systems may be intermediate polars, and that while the boundary layer of the accretion disk emits only in the extreme ultraviolet, part of the X-ray flux may be due to magnetically driven accretion.