Abstract
Observations of the classical nova QU Vul (1984) were carried out in the infrared, optical, and radio regimes between days 3791 and 4262 after discovery. For the first time a spatial extension of the shell around QU Vul could be unambiguously established from our IR and optical observations. At 2.2 μm, a shell size of about 0″.S was found, which corresponds to a linear diameter of (4.5 ± 0.4) × 1016 cm on day 4124 assuming QU Vul is 3.6 kpc distant. The mass of the shell is (4 ± 1.5) × 10-4 M⊙ with the assumption that a free-free emission process is the dominant emission mechanism in the shell. This shell mass is larger than found for any nova.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1966-1970 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Astronomical Journal |
Volume | 116 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1998 |
Keywords
- Infrared radiation
- Novae, cataclysmic variables
- Radio continuum