Extensive High Density Swift X-ray Observations of the Recurrent Nova RS Oph Reveal the Nuclear Burning White Dwarf in Unprecedented Detail

Details Extensive High Density Swift X-ray Observations of the Recurrent Nova RS Oph Reveal the Nuclear Burning White Dwarf in Unprecedented Detail Extensive High Density Swift X-ray Observations of the Recurrent Nova RS Oph Reveal the Nuclear Burning White Dwarf in Unprecedented Detail

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006head....9.1708o&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #9, #17.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.381

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Oph has been observed by Swift in hard and soft X-rays and with the UV and V grisms. The observations run from 3 to 256 days after outburst, and reveal the cooling shocked red giant wind and the super-soft phase due to the burning white dwarf in superb detail. The super-soft phase is visible between days 30 to 90, its short duration contrains the white dwarf mass to be close to the Chandrasekhar limit. The onset of this phase is characterised by massive flux instability which does not appear related to either variable absorption nor to white dwarf temperature changes. In addition, this phase exhibits a 36 second flux modulation of modest coherence; this period is much shorter than any previously observed from a nuclear burning white dwarf. Temperatures and luminosities of 500,000 to 800,000 K and 10,000 to 20,000 times solar are derived from relatively simple spectral fits to the super-soft source, consistent with expectations for a high mass white dwarf. A fast decline from peak flux of the super-soft component points to a low mass residual white dwarf envelope as expected from the short outburst recurrence timescale.

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