The ambiguous transient ASASSN-17hx. A possible nova-impostor

Abstract

Some transients, although classified as novae based on their maximum and early decline optical spectra, cast doubts on their true nature and whether nova impostors might exist. We monitored a candidate nova which displayed a distinctly unusual light curve at maximum and early decline through optical spectroscopy (3000-10000 Å, 500<R<100000) complemented with Swift UV and AAVSO optical photometry. We use the spectral line series to characterize the ejecta dynamics, structure, and mass. We found that the ejecta are in free ballistic expansion and structured as typical of classical novae. However, their derived mass is at least an order of magnitude larger than the typical ejecta masses obtained for classical novae. Specifically, we found M${}_{ej}\simeq$9$\times$10${}^{-3}$ M${}_{\odot }$ independent of the distance for a filling factor $\epsilon$=1. By constraining the distance we derived $\epsilon$ in the range 0.08-0.10, giving a mass 7$\times$10${}^{-4}\lesssim$ M${}_{ej}\lesssim$9$\times$10${}^{-4}$ M${}_{\odot }$. The nebular spectrum, characterized by unusually strong coronal emission lines, confines the ionizing source energy to the range 20-250 eV, possibly peaking in the range 75-100 or 75-150 eV. We link this source to other slow novae which showed similar behavior and suggest that they might form a distinct physical sub-group. They may result from a classical nova explosion occurring on a very low mass white dwarf or be impostors for an entirely different type of transient.

arXiv commentaccepted for publication on A&A

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