Swift observations of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi: I. Early X-ray emission from the shocked ejecta and red giant wind

Details Swift observations of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi: I. Early X-ray emission from the shocked ejecta and red giant wind Swift observations of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi: I. Early X-ray emission from the shocked ejecta and red giant wind

2006-04-28

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0604618v3

Astrophys.J.652:629-635,2006

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

20 pages, 4 figures (2 updated), accepted by ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/507980

RS Ophiuchi began its latest outburst on 2006 February 12. Previous outbursts have indicated that high velocity ejecta interact with a pre-existing red giant wind, setting up shock systems analogous to those seen in Supernova Remnants. However, in the previous outburst in 1985, X-ray observations did not commence until 55 days after the initial explosion. Here we report on Swift observations covering the first month of the 2006 outburst with the Burst Alert (BAT) and X-ray Telescope (XRT) instruments. RS Oph was clearly detected in the BAT 14-25 keV band from t=0 to $t\sim6$ days. XRT observationsfrom 0.3-10 keV, started at 3.17 days after outburst. The rapidly evolving XRT spectra clearly show the presence of both line and continuum emission which can be fitted by thermal emission from hot gas whose characteristic temperature, overlying absorbing column, $[N_H]_W$, and resulting unabsorbed total flux decline monotonically after the first few days. Derived shock velocities are in good agreement with those found from observations at other wavelengths. Similarly, $[N_H]_W$ is in accord with that expected from the red giant wind ahead of the forward shock. We confirm the basic models of the 1985 outburst and conclude that standard Phase I remnant evolution terminated by $t\sim10$ days and the remnant then rapidly evolved to display behaviour characteristic of Phase III. Around t=26 days however, a new, luminous and highly variable soft X-ray source began to appear whose origin will be explored in a subsequent paper.

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