DISCOVERY OF A NEW PHOTOMETRIC SUB-CLASS OF FAINT AND FAST CLASSICAL NOVAE

被引:76
作者
Kasliwal, M. M. [1 ]
Cenko, S. B. [2 ]
Kulkarni, S. R. [1 ]
Ofek, E. O. [1 ]
Quimby, R. [1 ]
Rau, A. [3 ]
机构
[1] CALTECH, Dept Astron, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
[2] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Astron, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[3] Max Planck Inst Extraterr Phys, D-85748 Garching, Germany
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
galaxies:; individual; (M81; M82; M31; NGC; 2403; 891); galaxies: starburst; novae; cataclysmic variables; surveys; techniques: photometric; techniques: spectroscopic; LOW-RESOLUTION; WHITE-DWARFS; SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION; TELESCOPE; M31; SPECTROGRAPH; POPULATION; OUTBURSTS; DISTANCE; SPECTRA;
D O I
10.1088/0004-637X/735/2/94
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
We present photometric and spectroscopic follow-up of a sample of extragalactic novae discovered by the Palomar 60 inch telescope during a search for "Fast Transients In Nearest Galaxies" (P60-FasTING). Designed as a fast cadence (1 day) and deep (g < 21 mag) survey, P60-FasTING was particularly sensitive to short-lived and faint optical transients. The P60-FasTING nova sample includes 10 novae in M 31, 6 in M 81, 3 in M 82, 1 in NGC 2403, and 1 in NGC 891. This significantly expands the known sample of extragalactic novae beyond the Local Group, including the first discoveries in a starburst environment. Surprisingly, our photometry shows that this sample is quite inconsistent with the canonical maximum-magnitude-rate-of-decline (MMRD) relation for classical novae. Furthermore, the spectra of the P60-FasTING sample are indistinguishable from classical novae. We suggest that we have uncovered a sub-class of faint and fast classical novae in a new phase space in luminosity-timescale of optical transients. Thus, novae span two orders of magnitude in both luminosity and time. Perhaps the MMRD, which is characterized only by the white dwarf mass, was an oversimplification. Nova physics appears to be characterized by a relatively rich four-dimensional parameter space in white dwarf mass, temperature, composition, and accretion rate.
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页数:12
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