Classical Novae Blow Smoke Rings: A DIRTY Approach to Modeling Dust Formation

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

Classical novae (CNe) are convenient objects for studying dust formation. While they are not the dust-producing workhorses that AGB stars are, CNe provide a way to study a single epoch of dust formation. Estimates of dust masses in some novae have implied a large portion (if not all!) of the gas is turned into dust, which is not physical. We propose for these objects the problem lies in estimating the dust mass. We present a new approach using the dust radiative transfer code DIRTY. We chose this code for its ability to model various geometries and for including the effects of scattered light and transient heating of small grains.
We have an extensive and unpublished time series of OIR photometry with select nights of spectroscopy for the dusty nova V868 Cen (Nova Cen 91). Our work is innovative for simultaneously modeling the optical (central engine) emission and the IR (dust shell) emission, whereas previous studies have only modeled the IR emission, allowing us to account for ``contamination" of short-wavelength IR by scattered optical light.
Our initial models used the simplest geometry, a spherical shell either homogeneous or ``clumpy". While the spherical shell model could fit individual nights, it could not match the temporal evolution of the nova. Multiple studies of gas emission line profiles indicate that CNe ejecta shells have an ellipsoidal geometry with equatorial, tropical, and polar overdensities. We find that a torus model is a better fit for single nights of data as well as matching the temporal evolution of the nova. We present our results showing the formation, growth, and destruction of dust grains. We show importance of geometry on dust mass estimates and take the first steps to determine the physical location of dust formation in CNe.

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