Recurrent Symbiotic Nova T Coronae Borealis Before Outburst

Abstract

The results of photometric and spectral observations of T CrB obtained in a wide range of wavelengths in 2011-2023 are presented. We use the near-IR light curves to determine a new ephemeris $J{D}_{min}=2455828.9+227.55\times E$ for the times of light minima when the red giant is located between the observer and the hot component. The flux ratio H$\alpha$/H$\beta$ varied from $\sim 3$ to $\sim 8$ in 2020-2023, which may be due to a change in the flux ratio between the X-ray and optical ranges. It is shown that the value of H$\alpha$/H$\beta$ anticorrelates with the rate of accretion onto the hot component of the system. Based on high-speed follow-up observations obtained on June 8, 2023, we detected a variability of the HeII $\lambda 4686$ line with a characteristic time-scale of $\sim 25$ min, the amplitude of variability in the $B$-band was $\sim 0.07^m$. Simulations of the near-IR light curves accounting for the ellipsoidal effect allowed us to obtain the parameters of the binary system: the Roche lobe filling factor of the cool component $\mu =1.0$, the mass ratio $q=M_{cool}/M_{hot}\in [0.5,0.77]$, the orbital inclination $i\in [55^{\circ },63^{\circ }]$. A comparison of the light curve obtained in 2005-2023 with the 1946 outburst template made it possible to predict the date of the upcoming outburst - January 2024.

16 pages, 3 tables, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy Letters