Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999hst..prop.8221s&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #8221
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #8221 Stellar Ejecta
Scientific paper
The recurrent nova T Pyxidis is one of only 20 novae with known shells, and the only recurrent nova with clearly resolved circumstellar matter. A unique and once-in-a- generation opportunity will exist during T Pyxidis' next eruption {now overdue} to determine: 1} The uniformity and isotropy of material {both dust and different chemical elements} ejected in previous eruptions, and 2} The smallest structures formed in nova eruptions. We propose to use WFPC2 to image T Pyx after it erupts to search for fluorescence and reflection light echoes from, and small-scale structure in, the nova circumstellar gas and dust ejecta. Only two novae are presently known to have a highly structured shell that can be defined as ``very'' clumpy. These novae are GK Per {known from the ground} and T Pyx {HST cycle 4 WFPC2 images}. It's unclear if this structure is common to all nova shells or, if it is, how the structure is created. Though T Pyx is ``overdue'' it may take several years before it goes off again. We therefore propose to use the TOO time, if allocated, to follow the eruption of the next bright Galactic nova with WFPC2 {if T Pyx does not erupt} to determine how quickly the ejecta of a nova become clumpy.
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