Which information can we derive from historical Far Eastern guest stars for modern research on novae and cataclysmic variables?

Abstract

Recently, there have been several studies on the evolution of binary systems using historical data treated as facts in the chain of arguments. In this paper we discuss six case studies of modern dwarf novae with suggested historical counterpart from the historical point of view as well as the derived consequences for the physics of close binary systems (the dwarf novae Z Cam and AT Cnc, the nebula in M22, and the possible Nova 101, Nova 483, and Nova 1437). We consider the historical Far Eastern reports and after a careful re-reading of the text we map the given information on the sky. In some cases, the positions given in modern lists of classical nova-guest star-pairs turn out to be wrong, or they have to be considered highly approximate: The historical position, in most cases, should be transformed into areas at the celestial sphere and not into point coordinates. Based on the correct information we consider the consequences concerning the evolution of close binary systems. However, the result is that none of the cases of cataclysmic variables suggested to have a historical counterpart can be (fully) supported. As the identification of the historical record of observation with the CVs known today turns out to be always uncertain, a potential historical observation alone may not be relied on to draw conclusions on the evolution of binaries. The evolution scenarios should be derived from astrophysical observation and modelling only.

arXiv comment17 pages, 13 figures

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Cited by in corpus (13)

• The Simulated Sky: Stellarium for Cultural Astronomy Research
• The luminosity evolution of nova shells -- I. A new analysis of old data
• A new approach to generate a catalogue of potential historical novae
• Cataclysmic variables as possible counterparts of ancient Far Eastern guest stars
• A Search for the modern counterparts of the Far Eastern guest stars 369 CE, 386 CE, and 393 CE
• Introducing the Condor Array Telescope: III. The expansion and age of the shell of the dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis, and detection of a second, larger shell
• Critical comments on publications by S. Hoffmann and N. Vogt on historical novae/supernovae and their candidates
• Confirmation of the planetary nebula nature of HaTr 5. Not the remnant of Nova Sco 1437
• Challenging historical novae: AT Cnc (1645), Te-11 (483), and M22 (BC 48) revisited
• A Search for recurrent novae among Far Eastern guest stars
• Constraining the white-dwarf mass in the intermediate polar IGR J17014-4306 using X-ray and optical spectroscopy
• Searching for nova shells around cataclysmic variables -- II. A second campaign
• Identification of Z Cam's Historical Counterpart: The Quest for an Ancient Nova