HET Spectroscopy of Extragalactic Novae

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We are currently involved in a multifaceted campaign to study extragalactic novae in the optical and IR using a variety of instruments: The Mount Laguna 1m, the Steward 2.3m, and the Liverpool 2m telescopes for optical imaging, the Hobbey-Eberly Telescope (HET) for optical spectroscopy, and the Spitzer Space Telescope for IR photometry and spectroscopy. Here, we report the initial results from our program of spectroscopic observations obtained with the LRS on the HET. Thus far, we have obtained spectra of three novae: Nova M31-2006#9 (ATEL 887), Nova M32-2006#1 (CBET 591), and Nova M33-2006#1 (CBET 655), which were taken on 24-Sep-2006 UT, 30-Sep-2006 UT, and 02-Oct-2006 UT, approximately 6, 65, and 4 days post discovery, for the three novae respectively. The spectra of Nova M31-2006#9 and Nova M33-2006#1 revealed prominent Balmer (FWHM 1600 km/s) and Fe II emission lines typical of the "Fe II" class in the classification system of Williams (1992 AJ, 104, 725). The spectrum of Nova M32-2006#1, which was obtained much longer after eruption, showed strong H-alpha (FWHM 1300 km/s), along with weaker H-beta, Fe II, and [N II] 5755, indicating that this nova is also a member of the Fe II class, and that it had entered the nebular phase at the time of our observations. In addition to these three novae, we also attempted to obtain a spectrum of Nova M31-2006#7 (CBET 615) on 23-Sep-2006 UT, approximately three weeks after discovery. However, by the time of our observations, the nova had faded to invisibility. An 1800s integration at the reported position reveled no trace of the nova. It is likely that this optical transient was an unusually fast nova, possibly of the "He/N" class. This work is being supported in part by NSF grant AST-0607682.

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