TY - JOUR
T1 - Pan-chromatic observations of the remarkable nova large magellanic cloud 2012
AU - Schwarz, Greg J.
AU - Shore, Steven N.
AU - Page, Kim L.
AU - Osborne, Julian P.
AU - Beardmore, Andrew P.
AU - Walter, Frederick M.
AU - Bode, Michael F.
AU - Drake, Jeremy J.
AU - Ness, Jan Uwe
AU - Starrfield, Sumner
AU - Van Rossum, Daniel R.
AU - Woodward, Charles E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/3/1
Y1 - 2015/3/1
N2 - We present the results of an intensive multiwavelength campaign on nova LMC 2012. This nova evolved very rapidly in all observed wavelengths. The time to fall two magnitudes in the V band was only 2 days. In X-rays the super soft phase began 13 ± 5 days after discovery and ended around day 50 after discovery. During the super soft phase, the Swift/XRT and Chandra spectra were consistent with the underlying white dwarf (WD) being very hot, ∼1 MK, and luminous, ∼1038 erg s-1. The UV, optical, and near-IR photometry showed a periodic variation after the initial and rapid fading had ended. Timing analysis revealed a consistent 19.24 ± 0.03 hr period in all UV, optical, and near-IR bands with amplitudes of ∼0.3 mag which we associate with the orbital period of the central binary. No periods were detected in the corresponding X-ray data sets. A moderately high inclination system, i = 60 ± 10, was inferred from the early optical emission lines. The HST/STIS UV spectra were highly unusual with only the N v (1240) line present and superposed on a blue continuum. The lack of emission lines and the observed UV and optical continua from four epochs can be fit with a low mass ejection event, ∼10-6 , from a hot and massive WD near the Chandrasekhar limit. The WD, in turn, significantly illuminated its subgiant companion which provided the bulk of the observed UV/optical continuum emission at the later dates. The inferred extreme WD characteristics and low mass ejection event favor nova LMC 2012 being a recurrent nova of the U Sco subclass.
AB - We present the results of an intensive multiwavelength campaign on nova LMC 2012. This nova evolved very rapidly in all observed wavelengths. The time to fall two magnitudes in the V band was only 2 days. In X-rays the super soft phase began 13 ± 5 days after discovery and ended around day 50 after discovery. During the super soft phase, the Swift/XRT and Chandra spectra were consistent with the underlying white dwarf (WD) being very hot, ∼1 MK, and luminous, ∼1038 erg s-1. The UV, optical, and near-IR photometry showed a periodic variation after the initial and rapid fading had ended. Timing analysis revealed a consistent 19.24 ± 0.03 hr period in all UV, optical, and near-IR bands with amplitudes of ∼0.3 mag which we associate with the orbital period of the central binary. No periods were detected in the corresponding X-ray data sets. A moderately high inclination system, i = 60 ± 10, was inferred from the early optical emission lines. The HST/STIS UV spectra were highly unusual with only the N v (1240) line present and superposed on a blue continuum. The lack of emission lines and the observed UV and optical continua from four epochs can be fit with a low mass ejection event, ∼10-6 , from a hot and massive WD near the Chandrasekhar limit. The WD, in turn, significantly illuminated its subgiant companion which provided the bulk of the observed UV/optical continuum emission at the later dates. The inferred extreme WD characteristics and low mass ejection event favor nova LMC 2012 being a recurrent nova of the U Sco subclass.
KW - novae, cataclysmic variables
KW - ultraviolet: stars
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U2 - 10.1088/0004-6256/149/3/95
DO - 10.1088/0004-6256/149/3/95
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84923873030
SN - 0004-6256
VL - 149
JO - Astronomical Journal
JF - Astronomical Journal
IS - 3
M1 - 95
ER -