We report on the discovery of large-amplitude flickering from V648 Car (= SS73-17), a poorly studied object listed amongst the very few hard X-ray emitting symbiotic stars. We performed milli-magnitude precision optical photometry with the Swope Tele
scope at the Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, and found that V648 Car shows large U-band variability over time scales of minutes. To our knowledge, it is amongst the largest flickering of a symbiotic star ever reported. Our finding supports the hypothesis that symbiotic WDs producing hard X-rays are predominantly powered by accretion, rather than quasi-steady nuclear burning, and have masses close to the Chandrasekhar limit. No significant periodicity is evident from the flickering light curve. The ASAS long-term V light curve suggests the presence of a tidally distorted giant accreting via Roche Lobe overflow, and a binary period of about 520 days. On the basis of the outstanding physical properties of V648 Car as hinted by its fast and long-term optical variability, as well as by its nature as hard X-ray emitter, we therefore call for simultaneous follow-up observations in different bands, ideally combined with time-resolved optical spectroscopy.
Highly-collimated gas ejections are among the most dramatic structures in the Universe, observed to emerge from very different astrophysical systems - from active galactic nuclei down to young brown dwarf stars. Even with the huge span in spatial sca
les, there is convincing evidence that the physics at the origin of the phenomenon, namely the acceleration and collimation mechanisms, is the same in all classes of jets. Here we report on the discovery of a giant, highly-collimated jet from Sanduleaks star in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). With a physical extent of 14 parsecs at the distance of the LMC, it represents the largest stellar jet ever discovered, and the first resolved stellar jet beyond the Milky Way. The kinematics and extreme chemical composition of the ejecta from Sanduleaks star bear strong resemblance with the low-velocity remnants of SN1987A and with the outer filaments of the most famous supernova progenitor candidate, i.e., eta Carinae. Moreover, the precise knowledge of the jets distance implies that it will be possible to derive accurate estimates of most of its physical properties. Sanduleaks bipolar outflow will thus become a crucial test-bed for future theoretical modeling of astrophysical jets.
Context. We analyse the line and continuum spectra of the symbiotic system CH Cygni. Aims. To show that the colliding-wind model is valid to explain this symbiotic star at different phases. Methods. Peculiar observed features such as flickering, radi
o variation, X-ray emission, as well as the distribution of the nebulae and shells throughout the system are investigated by modelling the spectra at different epochs. The models account consistently for shock and photoionization and are constrained by absolute fluxes. Results. We find that the reverse shock between the stars leads to the broad lines observed during the active phases, as well as to radio and hard X-ray emission, while the expanding shock is invoked to explain the data during the transition phases.
