First detection and characterization of symbiotic stars in M31

Abstract

Symbiotic binaries are putative progenitors of type Ia supernovae. The census of Galactic symbiotic binaries is so incomplete that we cannot reliably estimate the total population of these stars, and use it to check whether that number is consistent with the observed type Ia supernova rate in spiral galaxies. We have thus begun a survey of the nearest counterpart of our own Galaxy, namely M31, where a relatively complete census of symbiotic stars is achievable. We report the first detections and spectrographic characterizations of 35 symbiotic binaries in M31, and compare these stars with the symbiotic population in the Milky Way. These newly detected M31 symbiotic binaries are remarkably similar to galactic symbiotics, though we are clearly only sampling (in this feasibility study) the most luminous symbiotics in M31. We have also found, in M31, the symbiotic star (M31SyS J004233.17+412720.7) with the highest ionization level known amongst all symbiotics. An optical outburst of the M31 symbiotic star M31SyS J004322.50+413940.9 was probably a nova-like outburst, the first symbiotic outburst detected outside the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds.

arXiv comment19 pages, 16 figures, MNRAS in press

References in corpus (31)

• An Extended Grid of Nova Models: II. The Parameter Space of Nova Outbursts
• A Survey of Local Group Galaxies Currently Forming Stars. I. UBVRI Photometry of Stars in M31 and M33
• A catalogue of symbiotic stars
• Hectospec, the MMT's 300 Optical Fiber-Fed Spectrograph
• The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury
• PTF11kx: A Type-Ia Supernova with a Symbiotic Nova Progenitor
• Constraints on the Progenitor System of the Type Ia Supernova SN 2011fe/PTF11kly
• A Survey of Local Group Galaxies Currently Forming Stars: III. A Search for Luminous Blue Variables and Other H-alpha Emission-Lined Stars
• A deep kinematic survey of planetary nebulae in the Andromeda Galaxy using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph
• Star Clusters in M31: I. A Catalog and a Study of the Young Clusters
• The metallicity profile of M31 from spectroscopy of hundreds of HII regions and PNe
• A multi-epoch spectrophotometric atlas of symbiotic stars
• A New Catalog of HII Regions in M31
• Early-stage young stellar objects in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Planetary nebula or symbiotic Mira? Near infrared colours mark the difference
• 15 colour photometry of Landolt SA95 standard star field
• The Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae: II. Are they Double-Degenerate Binaries? The Symbiotic Channel
• Symbiotic stars and other Halpha emission line stars towards the Galactic Bulge
• DIRECT Distances to Nearby Galaxies Using Detached Eclipsing Binaries and Cepheids. IX. Variables in the Field M31Y Discovered with Image Subtraction
• The POINT-AGAPE Survey I: The Variable Stars in M31
• The spectroscopic orbit and the geometry of R Aqr
• Two SMC Symbiotic stars undergoing steady hydrogen burning
• Eclipsing binaries suitable for distance determination in the Andromeda galaxy
• Lynds 1622: a nearby star forming cloud projected on Orion B?
• Identification of new Galactic symbiotic stars with SALT. I. Initial discoveries and other emission line objects
• The symbiotic binary system RX Puppis: a possible recurrent nova with a Mira companion
• Discovery of the first symbiotic star in NGC6822
• Symbiotic Stars in OGLE Data I. Large Magellanic Cloud Systems
• Non-Equipartition of Energy, Masses of Nova Ejecta, and Type Ia Supernovae
• Five supernova survey galaxies in the southern hemisphere. II. The supernova rates
• Comparing Symbiotic Nebulae and Planetary Nebulae Luminosity Functions

Cited by in corpus (23)

• A census of symbiotic stars in the 2MASS, WISE and Gaia surveys
• A morpho-kinematic and spectroscopic study of the bipolar nebulae: M 2-9, Mz 3, and Hen 2-104
• Distinguishing between symbiotic stars and planetary nebulae
• The GALAH Survey and Symbiotic Stars. I. Discovery and follow-up of 33 candidate accreting-only systems
• A Survey of the Local Group of Galaxies for Symbiotic Binary Stars. I. First detection of symbiotic stars in M33
• Gaia18aen: First symbiotic star discovered by Gaia
• Discovery of true, likely and possible symbiotic stars in the dwarf spheroidal NGC 205
• The Symbiotic Stars
• Symbiotic stars in the era of modern ground- and space-based surveys
• On the absence of symbiotic stars in globular clusters
• OGLE-SMC-LPV-00861 (LIN 9): the first proven Z And outburst in a Magellanic symbiotic star
• The formation of the magnetic symbiotic star FN Sgr
• The first transition Wolf-Rayet WN/C star in M31
• RAMSES II - RAMan Search for Extragalactic Symbiotic Stars. Project concept, commissioning, and early results from the science verification phase
• The nature of the symbiotic candidate 2MASS J07363415+6538548 in the field of NGC 2403
• LMC S154: the first Magellanic symbiotic recurrent nova
• A catalogue of H$\alpha$ emission-line point sources in the vicinity fields of M31 and M33 from the LAMOST survey
• Mapping H$\alpha$-Excess Candidate Point Sources in the Southern Hemisphere Using S-PLUS Data
• Symbiotic Stars in the APOGEE Survey: The Case of LIN 358 and SMC N73 (LIN 445a)
• CXO J004318.8+412016, a steady supersoft X-ray source in M 31
• Symbiotic stars in the Local Group of Galaxies
• The survey of Planetary Nebulae in Andromeda (M31): I. Imaging the disk and halo with MegaCam@CFHT
• Comprehensive analysis of a symbiotic candidate V503 Her