Novae Ejecta as Discrete Adiabatically Expanding Globules

Abstract

Available data for novae show that the X-ray and visible spectral regions correlate with each other as they evolve. Large differences in ionization exist simultaneously in the two wavelength regimes, and a straightforward model is proposed that explains the characteristics observed in both spectral regimes. Its key features are (1) ejected blobs of very high density gas from the white dwarf that expand to create within each clump a wide range of emitting density, ionization, and velocity, and (2) a more homogeneous circumbinary envelope of gas that is produced by secondary star mass loss. The relative mass loss rates from the two stars determine whether the He/N or the Fe II visible spectrum predominates during decline, when hard X-rays are detected, and when the white dwarf can be detected as a super soft X-ray source.

14 pages, 5 figures, Revised manuscript submitted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

References in corpus (9)

• Transient Heavy Element Absorption Systems in Novae: Episodic Mass Ejection from the Secondary Star
• Origin of the `He/N' and `Fe II' Spectral Classes of Novae
• The spectroscopic evolution of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis during its 2011 outburst. II.The optically thin phase and the structure of the ejecta in recurrent novae
• The expanding dusty bipolar nebula around the nova V1280 Sco
• The Radio Light Curve of the Gamma-Ray Nova in V407 Cyg: Thermal Emission from the Ionized Symbiotic Envelope, Devoured from Within by the Nova Blast
• Swift X-ray and UV monitoring of the Classical Nova V458 Vul (Nova Vul 2007)
• Thomson Scattering and Collisional Ionization in the X-rays Grating Spectra of the Recurrent Nova U Scorpii
• U Sco 2010 outburst: a new understanding of the binary accretion disk and the secondary star
• The nature and evolution of Nova Cygni 2006

Cited by in corpus (16)

• New Insights into Classical Novae
• Early spectral evolution of classical novae: consistent evidence for multiple distinct outflows
• A remarkable recurrent nova in M31: Discovery and optical/UV observations of the predicted 2014 eruption
• The 2011 Outburst of Recurrent Nova T Pyx: X-ray Observations Expose the White Dwarf Mass and Ejection Dynamics
• A New Catalogue of Galactic Novae: Investigation of the MMRD relation & Spatial Distribution
• Near-IR studies of recurrent nova V745 Scorpii during its 2014 outburst
• A NuSTAR observation of the fast symbiotic nova V745 Sco in outburst
• The luminosity evolution of nova shells -- I. A new analysis of old data
• A New Diagnostic of Magnetic Field Strengths in Radiatively-Cooled Shocks
• Chemical and physical parameters from X-ray high resolution spectra of the Galactic nova V959 Mon
• The structure of a recent nova shell as observed by ALMA
• Insights into the evolution of symbiotic recurrent novae from radio synchrotron emission: V745 Scorpii and RS Ophiuchi
• On the White Dwarf Mass Problem of Cataclysmic Variables
• X-ray Development of the Classical Nova V2672 Ophiuchi with Suzaku
• Challenging historical novae: AT Cnc (1645), Te-11 (483), and M22 (BC 48) revisited
• AT 2019qyl in NGC 300: Internal Collisions in the Early Outflow from a Very Fast Nova in a Symbiotic Binary