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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
A "combination nova" outburst in Z Andromedae: Nuclear shell burning triggered by a disk instability
Astrophysical Journal, Volume 636, No. 2 I, Year 2006
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Description
We describe observational evidence for a new kind of interacting binary star outburst that involves both an accretion instability and an increase in thermonuclear shell burning on the surface of an accreting white dwarf. We refer to this new type of eruption as a combination nova. In late 2000, the prototypical symbiotic star Z Andromedae brightened by roughly 2 mag in the optical. We observed the outburst in the radio with the VLA and MERLIN, in the optical both photometrically and spectroscopically, in the far-ultraviolet with FUSE, and in the X-rays with both Chandra and XMM-Newton. The 2 year long event had three distinct stages. During the first stage, the optical rise closely resembled an earlier, small outburst that was caused by an accretion disk instability. In the second stage, the hot component ejected an optically thick shell of material. In the third stage, the shell cleared to reveal a white dwarf whose luminosity remained on the order of 104 L⊙ for approximately 1 yr. The eruption was thus too energetic to have been powered by accretion alone. We propose that the initial burst of accretion was large enough to trigger enhanced nuclear burning on the surface of the white dwarf and the ejection of an optically thick shell of material. This outburst therefore combined elements of both a dwarf nova and a classical nova. Our results have implications for the long-standing problem of producing shell flashes with short recurrence times on low-mass white dwarfs in symbiotic stars. © 2006. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Sokoloski, J. L.
United States, Cambridge
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
United States, Alexandria
National Science Foundation
Kenyon, Scott J.
United States, Cambridge
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Espey, B. R.
Ireland, Dublin
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland, Dublin
Institiúid Ard-lénn Bhaile Átha Cliath
Keyes, Charles D.
United States, Baltimore
Space Telescope Science Institute
McCandliss, S. R.
United States, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins University
Kong, Albert K.H.
United States, Cambridge
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Aufdenberg, J. P.
United States, Tucson
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Filippenko, Alexei V.
United States, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Li, Weidong
United States, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Brocksopp, Catherine
United Kingdom, Dorking
Ucl Mullard Space Science Laboratory
Knigge, Christian
United Kingdom, Southampton
University of Southampton
Charles, Philip A.
United Kingdom, Southampton
University of Southampton
South Africa, Cape Town
South African Astronomical Observatory
Rupen, Michael P.
United States, Socorro
National Radio Astronomy Observatory Socorro
Stone, R. P.S.
United States, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
Statistics
Citations: 74
Authors: 14
Affiliations: 13
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1086/498206
ISSN:
0004637X
e-ISSN:
15384357
Research Areas
Cancer