330 research outputs found
Swift observations of the 2015 outburst of AG Peg -- from slow nova to classical symbiotic outburst
Symbiotic stars often contain white dwarfs with quasi-steady shell burning on
their surfaces. However, in most symbiotics, the origin of this burning is
unclear. In symbiotic slow novae, however, it is linked to a past thermonuclear
runaway. In June 2015, the symbiotic slow nova AG Peg was seen in only its
second optical outburst since 1850. This recent outburst was of much shorter
duration and lower amplitude than the earlier eruption, and it contained
multiple peaks -- like outbursts in classical symbiotic stars such as Z And. We
report Swift X-ray and UV observations of AG Peg made between June 2015 and
January 2016. The X-ray flux was markedly variable on a time scale of days,
particularly during four days near optical maximum, when the X-rays became
bright and soft. This strong X-ray variability continued for another month,
after which the X-rays hardened as the optical flux declined. The UV flux was
high throughout the outburst, consistent with quasi-steady shell burning on the
white dwarf. Given that accretion disks around white dwarfs with shell burning
do not generally produce detectable X-rays (due to Compton-cooling of the
boundary layer), the X-rays probably originated via shocks in the ejecta. As
the X-ray photo-electric absorption did not vary significantly, the X-ray
variability may directly link to the properties of the shocked material. AG
Peg's transition from a slow symbiotic nova (which drove the 1850 outburst) to
a classical symbiotic star suggests that shell burning in at least some
symbiotic stars is residual burning from prior novae.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS 23 June 2016. Manuscript submitted in original form
5 April 201
A NuSTAR observation of the fast symbiotic nova V745 Sco in outburst
The fast recurrent nova V745 Sco was observed in the 3-79 keV X-rays band
with NuSTAR 10 days after the optical discovery. The measured X-ray emission is
consistent with a collisionally ionized optically thin plasma at temperature of
about 2.7 keV. A prominent iron line observed at 6.7 keV does not require
enhanced iron in the ejecta. We attribute the X-ray flux to shocked
circumstellar material. No X-ray emission was observed at energies above 20
keV, and the flux in the 3-20 keV range was about 1.6 10 erg
cm s. The emission measure indicates an average electron density
of order of 10 cm.
The X-ray flux in the 0.3-10 keV band almost simultaneously measured with
Swift was about 40 times larger, mainly due to the luminous central supersoft
source emitting at energy below 1 keV. The fact that the NuSTAR spectrum cannot
be fitted with a power law, and the lack of hard X-ray emission, allow us to
rule out Comptonized gamma rays, and to place an upper limit of the order of
10 erg cm s on the gamma-ray flux of the nova on the
tenth day of the outburst.Comment: in press in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 201
Symbiotic stars in X-rays III: Suzaku observations
We describe the X-ray emission as observed with Suzaku from five symbiotic
stars that we selected for deep Suzaku observations after their initial
detection with ROSAT, ASCA and Swift. We find that the X-ray spectra of all
five sources can be adequately fit with absorbed, optically thin thermal plasma
models, with either single- or multi-temperature plasmas. These models are
compatible with the X-ray emission originating in the boundary layer between an
accretion disk and a white dwarf. The high plasma temperatures of kT keV
for all five targets were greater than expected for colliding winds. Based on
these high temperatures, as well as previous measurements of UV variability and
UV luminosity, and the large amplitude of X-ray flickering in 4 Dra, we
conclude that all five sources are accretion-powered through predominantly
optically thick boundary layers. Our X-ray data allow us to observe a small,
optically thin portion of the emission from these boundary layers. Given the
time between previous observations and these observations, we find that the
intrinsic X-ray flux and the intervening absorbing column can vary by factors
of three or more on a time scale of years. However, the location of the
absorber and the relationship between changes in accretion rate and absorption
are still elusive.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures and 3 tables. Accepted to published 04/15/2016.
arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1505.0063
Chandra detection of extended X-ray emission from the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi
Radio, infrared, and optical observations of the 2006 eruption of the
symbiotic recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) showed that the explosion
produced non-spherical ejecta. Some of this ejected material was in the form of
bipolar jets to the east and west of the central source. Here we describe Xray
observations taken with the Chandra X-ray Observatory one and a half years
after the beginning of the outburst that reveal narrow, extended structure with
a position angle of approximately 300 degrees (east of north). Although the
orientation of the extended feature in the X-ray image is consistent with the
readout direction of the CCD detector, extensive testing suggests that the
feature is not an artifact. Assuming it is not an instrumental effect, the
extended X-ray structure shows hot plasma stretching more than 1,900 AU from
the central binary (taking a distance of 1.6 kpc). The X-ray emission is
elongated in the northwest direction - in line with the extended infrared
emission and some minor features in the published radio image. It is less
consistent with the orientation of the radio jets and the main bipolar optical
structure. Most of the photons in the extended X-ray structure have energies of
less than 0.8 keV. If the extended X-ray feature was produced when the nova
explosion occurred, then its 1".2 length as of 2007 August implies that it
expanded at an average rate of more than 2 mas/d, which corresponds to a flow
speed of greater than 6,000 km/s (d/1.6 kpc) in the plane of the sky. This
expansion rate is similar to the earliest measured expansion rates for the
radio jets.Comment: accepted in Ap
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