J/ApJ/788/164 Properties of the known Galactic classical novae (Pagnotta+, 2014)
Identifying and quantifying recurrent novae masquerading as classical novae.
Pagnotta A., Schaefer B.E.
<Astrophys. J., 788, 164 (2014)>
=2014ApJ...788..164P 2014ApJ...788..164P (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Novae ; Photometry
Keywords: novae, cataclysmic variables
Abstract:
Recurrent novae (RNe) are cataclysmic variables with two or more nova
eruptions within a century. Classical novae (CNe) are similar systems
with only one such eruption. Many of the so-called CNe are actually
RNe for which only one eruption has been discovered. Since RNe are
candidate Type Ia supernova progenitors, it is important to know
whether there are enough in our Galaxy to provide the supernova rate,
and therefore to know how many RNe are masquerading as CNe. To
quantify this, we collected all available information on the light
curves and spectra of a Galactic, time-limited sample of 237 CNe and
the 10 known RNe, as well as exhaustive discovery efficiency records.
We recognize RNe as having (1) outburst amplitude smaller than
14.5-4.5xlog(t3), (2) orbital period >0.6 days, (3) infrared colors of
J-H>0.7 mag and H-K>0.1 mag, (4) FWHM of Hα>2000 km/s, (5) high
excitation lines, such as Fe X or He II near peak, (6) eruption light
curves with a plateau, and (7) white dwarf mass greater than 1.2 M☉.
Using these criteria, we identify V1721 Aql, DE Cir, CP Cru, KT Eri,
V838 Her, V2672 Oph, V4160 Sgr, V4643 Sgr, V4739 Sgr, and V477 Sct as
strong RN candidates. We evaluate the RN fraction among the known CNe
using three methods to get 24%±4%, 12%±3%, and 35%±3%. With
roughly a quarter of the 394 known Galactic novae actually being RNe,
there should be approximately a hundred such systems masquerading as CNe.
Description:
RNe and CNe have substantial overlap in the observed distributions of
their properties. Indeed, this is expected, since many CNe are really
RNe. Nevertheless, a variety of properties are greatly different
between the CNe and the RNe. For example, most RNe have orbital
periods longer than 0.6 days, while most CNe have orbital periods
shorter than 0.3 days. Such properties can be used as indicators for
recognizing RNe among the CNe. Due to the overlapping distribution of
properties, no one property (other than multiple observed nova
eruptions) can be used to definitively identify the CN or RN nature of
any system. We never prove that a system is an RN by any means other
than finding multiple eruptions. The presence of multiple positive
indicators, however, especially if none are contrary, can make a
strong case for the RN nature of a system.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table3.dat 185 237 Properties of the Known Galactic Classical Novae
refs.dat 153 129 References
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See also:
II/173 : A REFERENCE CATALOGUE OF GALACTIC NOVAE (Version 1990.0)
J/PAZh/34/270 : Photometric parameters of Galactic novae (Burlak+, 2008)
J/PAZh/34/278 : Distances and extinction of Galactic novae (Burlak, 2008)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table3.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 9 A9 --- ID Nova identifier
11 A1 --- l_Amp [>] Limit flag on Amp
13- 17 F5.2 mag Amp ? Outburst amplitude
19- 20 A2 --- r_Amp Reference for Amp (listed in refs.dat file)
23 A1 --- l_t3 [>] Limit flag on t3
24- 26 I3 d t3 ? Time to decline three magnitudes
28- 30 A3 --- r_t3 Reference for t3 (listed in refs.dat file)
32- 36 F5.2 mag A-A0 ? Distance from the threshold line
38- 47 A10 km/s FWHM FWHM velocity of Hα
49- 55 A7 --- r_FWHM Reference(s) for FWHM (listed in refs.dat file)
57- 59 A3 --- HeII [Yes/No ] Presence of He II?
61- 63 A3 --- r_HeII Reference for HeII (listed in refs.dat file)
65- 72 A8 --- HiFe Highest iron present
74- 78 A5 --- r_HiFe Reference for HiFe (listed in refs.dat file)
80 A1 --- LC Light curve type (2)
82 A1 --- r_LC Reference for LC (listed in refs.dat file)
84- 88 F5.3 d Porb ? Orbital period
89 A1 --- u_Porb [:] Uncertainty flag on Porb
91- 93 A3 --- r_Porb Reference for Porb (listed in refs.dat file)
95-100 F6.3 mag J-H ? The (J-H) color
102-104 A3 --- r_J-H Reference for J-H (listed in refs.dat file)
106-111 F6.3 mag H-K ? The (H-K) color
113-117 A5 --- r_H-K Reference(s) for H-K (listed in refs.dat file)
119-121 A3 --- RG [Yes/No ] Presence of a red giant secondary?
123-131 A9 --- r_RG Reference(s) for RG (listed in refs.dat file)
133-174 A42 --- Com Other relevant comments
176-183 A8 --- r_Com Reference(s) for Com (listed in refs.dat file)
185 A1 --- Cat [BCDEF] Category (1)
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Note (1): Category as follows:
B = Contains strong recurrent nova (RN) candidates, for which many of our
indicators strongly point to the system being recurrent, with only one
eruption observed thus far;
C = Contains likely RN candidates, for which our evaluation of the
characteristics indicates that the probability is ≥50% that the system
is recurrent;
D = Contains likely classical novae (CNe), despite the system perhaps showing
some small number of positive RN indicators;
E = Contains systems which are certainly CNe based on the indicators;
F = Contains systems for which there is not enough information to determine
the status of the system.
Note (2): Light curve type as follows:
S = Smoothly declining;
D = Dust dips;
J = Large random jitters from before the peak until the transition phase;
O = Periodic oscillations around the transition phase;
F = Flat-topped;
C = A slow-rising fast-fall cusp around the transition phase;
P = Light curves are characterized by a plateau around the transition phase,
with this plateau being an interruption of the otherwise smooth decline
from peak, at which point the light curve goes nearly flat for a
measurable amount of time, then abruptly returns to its steep decline,
often at a faster rate than before the plateau phase.
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: refs.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 3 I3 --- Num [1/129] Reference number
5- 59 A55 --- Ref Reference
63- 81 A19 --- Bibcode Reference bibcode
83-153 A71 --- Com Comment on reference
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History:
From electronic version of the journal
(End) Prepared by [AAS], Tiphaine Pouvreau [CDS] 18-Jul-2017