SU Lyn -- a transient symbiotic star

Abstract

SU Lyn is a binary system composed of a white dwarf and a red giant star. Although it is known to be bright and variable at X-ray wavelengths, the optical counterpart of the source appeared as a single red giant without prominent emission lines. Because of the lack of optical features typical for interacting systems, the system was classified as a hidden symbiotic star. We present the results of optical monitoring of the system. While SU Lyn did not show substantial photometric variability, the spectroscopic observations revealed a complex behavior. The system showed strong emission line variability, including P Cygni profiles, changing line emission environments, and variable reddening. Both X-ray and optical observations indicate that the components of SU Lyn were interacting only for a short time during the last twelve years of monitoring. For the first time we showed that SU Lyn resembled a classical symbiotic star when it was X-ray bright, and remained hidden afterwards. We also discuss the current evolutionary status of the red giant, as well as possible future evolution of the system. We suggest that SU Lyn could be a progenitor of a classical, persistent symbiotic system.

arXiv comment15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (37)

• Gaia Data Release 2. Summary of the contents and survey properties
• MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks (MIST). I: Solar-Scaled Models
• The USNO-B Catalog
• Estimating distances from parallaxes. V: Geometric and photogeometric distances to 1.47 billion stars in Gaia Early Data Release 3
• MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks (MIST) 0: Methods for the construction of stellar isochrones
• The Man Behind the Curtain: X-rays Drive the UV through NIR Variability in the 2013 AGN Outburst in NGC 2617
• Estimating distances from parallaxes IV: Distances to 1.33 billion stars in Gaia Data Release 2
• The WASP Project and the SuperWASP Cameras
• The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) Light Curve Server v1.0
• A distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud that is precise to one per cent
• The AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared All-Sky Survey
• VOSA: Virtual Observatory SED Analyzer. An application to the Collinder 69 open cluster
• The unWISE Catalog: Two Billion Infrared Sources from Five Years of WISE Imaging
• The first WASP public data release
• The ELODIE archive
• Thermal Stability of White Dwarfs Accreting Hydrogen-rich Matter and Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae
• A census of symbiotic stars in the 2MASS, WISE and Gaia surveys
• The pulsation modes, masses and evolution of luminous red giants
• Population synthesis for symbiotic stars with white dwarf accretors
• Modelling the circumstellar medium in RS Ophiuchi and its link to Type Ia supernovae
• SU Lyncis, a hard X-ray bright M giant: Clues point to a large hidden population of symbiotic stars
• A machine learning approach for identification and classification of symbiotic stars using 2MASS and WISE
• Mass Loss Evolution and the Formation of Detached Shells around TP-AGB Stars
• Wind Roche Lobe Overflow as a way to make type Ia supernova from the widest symbiotic systems
• An incisive look at the symbiotic star SS Leporis -- Milli-arcsecond imaging with PIONIER/VLTI
• New outburst of the symbiotic nova AG Peg after 165 years
• The 7-year MAXI/GSC X-ray Source Catalog in the High Galactic-Latitude Sky (3MAXI)
• Swift observations of the 2015 outburst of AG Peg -- from slow nova to classical symbiotic outburst
• On the absence of symbiotic stars in globular clusters
• AG Pegasi - now a classical symbiotic star in outburst?
• Structure and dynamics of the inner nebula around the symbiotic stellar system R Aqr
• Wind mass transfer in S-type symbiotic binaries III. Confirmation of a wind focusing in EG Andromedae from the nebular [OIII]λ5007 line
• Variability of the symbiotic X-ray binary GX 1+4: Enhanced activity near periastron passage
• DASCH Discovery of A Possible Nova-like Outburst in A Peculiar Symbiotic Binary
• SU Lyn: diagnosing the boundary layer with UV and hard X-ray data
• UV spectroscopy confirms SU Lyn to be a symbiotic star
• Is the semi-regular variable RU Vulpeculae undergoing a helium-shell flash?

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Symbiotic stars in the era of modern ground- and space-based surveys
• The formation of the magnetic symbiotic star FN Sgr
• Taking a break: paused accretion in the symbiotic binary RT Cru
• DeGaPe 35: Amateur discovery of a new southern symbiotic star
• Comprehensive analysis of a symbiotic candidate V503 Her