Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21733814p&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #338.14; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Scientific paper
We report on the 2010 eruption of the recurrent nova U Scorpii. This outburst was predicted in 2005 and discovered independently by AAVSO observers Barbara G. Harris and Shawn Dvorak on 28 January 2010 as a result of a monitoring program coordinated by our group at LSU in conjunction with the AAVSO. The eruption lasted approximately 64 days, over the course of which more than 35,000 pre-arranged and serendipitous observations were made in all wavelengths from radio to X-ray. We present multi-wavelength light curves (UBVRIJHKby+UV+X-ray) of the entire eruption which show the overall speed of the event, the expected first plateau, the unexpected second plateau, and the return to quiescence. As anticipated, the onset of the optical plateau coincided with the turn-on of the supersoft X-ray emission and the reemergence of the eclipses. Our comprehensive coverage shows fine-scale phenomena as well, such as flares of up to 0.5 mag in amplitude during the initial fast decline which are as yet unexplained and late aperiodic dips (distinct from the well-known eclipses) that are likely caused by raised rims on the re-forming accretion disk. Additionally, we present outburst spectra showing unusual features such as very high expansion velocities (on the order of 10,000 km/s) and castellated (triple-peaked) Balmer line profiles. This work was funded in part by NSF Grant AST-0708079.
Allen Ben
Clem James L.
Dvorak Shawn
Gomez Teresa
Handler Gerald
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