Multiwavelength observations of nova SMCN 2016-10a - one of the brightest novae ever observed

We report on multiwavelength observations of nova Small Magellanic Cloud Nova 2016-10a. The present observational set is one of the most comprehensive for any nova in the Small Magellanic Cloud, including low-, medium-, and high-resolution optical spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry from Southern Af...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Aydi, E. (author)
Other Authors: Page, K. L. (author), Kuin, N. P. M. (author), Darnley, M. J. (author), Walter, F. M. (author), Mróz, P. (author), Buckley, D. (author), Mohamed, S. (author), Whitelock, P. (author), Woudt, P. (author), Williams, S. C. (author), Orio, M. (author), Williams, R. E. (author), Beardmore, A. P. (author), Osborne, J. P. (author), Kniazev, A. (author), Ribeiro, V. A. R. M. (author), Udalski, A. (author), Strader, J. (author), Chomiuk, L. (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2018
Subjects:
stars: individual (SMCN 2016-10a)
novae, cataclysmic variables
white dwarfs
ultraviolet: stars
X-rays: binaries
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10773/21416
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:ria.ua.pt:10773/21416
Description
Summary:We report on multiwavelength observations of nova Small Magellanic Cloud Nova 2016-10a. The present observational set is one of the most comprehensive for any nova in the Small Magellanic Cloud, including low-, medium-, and high-resolution optical spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry from Southern African Large Telescope, Folded Low-Order Yte-Pupil Double-Dispersed Spectrograph, and Southern Astrophysical Research; long-term Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment V- and I-bands photometry dating back to 6 yr before eruption; Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System optical and near-IR photometry from ˜11 d until over 280 d post-eruption; Swift satellite X-ray and ultraviolet observations from ˜6 d until 319 d post-eruption. The progenitor system contains a bright disc and a main sequence or a sub-giant secondary. The nova is very fast with t2 ≃ 4.0 ± 1.0 d and t3 ≃ 7.8 ± 2.0 d in the V band. If the nova is in the SMC, at a distance of ˜61 ± 10 kpc, we derive MV, max ≃ -10.5 ± 0.5, making it the brightest nova ever discovered in the SMC and one of the brightest on record. At day 5 post-eruption the spectral lines show a He/N spectroscopic class and an Full Width at Half Maximum of ˜3500 km s-1, indicating moderately high ejection velocities. The nova entered the nebular phase ˜20 d post-eruption, predicting the imminent super-soft source turn-on in the X-rays, which started ˜28 d post-eruption. The super-soft source properties indicate a white dwarf mass between 1.2 and 1.3 M in good agreement with the optical conclusions.

Similar Items