TY - JOUR
T1 - An ancient nova shell around the dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis
AU - Shara, Michael M.
AU - Martin, Christopher D.
AU - Seibert, Mark
AU - Rich, R. Michael
AU - Salim, Samir
AU - Reitzel, David
AU - Schiminovich, David
AU - Deliyannis, Constantine P.
AU - Sarrazine, Angela R.
AU - Kulkarni, Shri R.
AU - Ofek, Eran O.
AU - Brosch, Noah
AU - Lépine, Sebastien
AU - Zurek, David
AU - De Marco, Orsola
AU - Jacoby, George
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Telescope time at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Lick Observatory and the Palomar Observatory is gratefully acknowledged. Kitt Peak National Observatory of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.
PY - 2007/3/8
Y1 - 2007/3/8
N2 - Cataclysmic variables (classical novae and dwarf novae) are binary star systems in which a red dwarf transfers hydrogen-rich matter, by way of an accretion disk, to its white dwarf companion. In dwarf novae, an instability is believed to episodically dump much of the accretion disk onto the white dwarf. The liberation of gravitational potential energy then brightens these systems by up to 100-fold every few weeks or months. Thermonuclear-powered eruptions thousands of times more luminous occur in classical novae, accompanied by significant mass ejection and formation of clearly visible shells from the ejected material. Theory predicts that the white dwarfs in all dwarf novae must eventually accrete enough mass to undergo classical nova eruptions. Here we report a shell, an order of magnitude more extended than those detected around many classical novae, surrounding the prototypical dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis. The derived shell mass matches that of classical novae, and is inconsistent with the mass expected from a dwarf nova wind or a planetary nebula. The shell observationally links the prototypical dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis with an ancient nova eruption and the classical nova process.
AB - Cataclysmic variables (classical novae and dwarf novae) are binary star systems in which a red dwarf transfers hydrogen-rich matter, by way of an accretion disk, to its white dwarf companion. In dwarf novae, an instability is believed to episodically dump much of the accretion disk onto the white dwarf. The liberation of gravitational potential energy then brightens these systems by up to 100-fold every few weeks or months. Thermonuclear-powered eruptions thousands of times more luminous occur in classical novae, accompanied by significant mass ejection and formation of clearly visible shells from the ejected material. Theory predicts that the white dwarfs in all dwarf novae must eventually accrete enough mass to undergo classical nova eruptions. Here we report a shell, an order of magnitude more extended than those detected around many classical novae, surrounding the prototypical dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis. The derived shell mass matches that of classical novae, and is inconsistent with the mass expected from a dwarf nova wind or a planetary nebula. The shell observationally links the prototypical dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis with an ancient nova eruption and the classical nova process.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33947146650&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nature05576
DO - 10.1038/nature05576
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AN - SCOPUS:33947146650
SN - 0028-0836
VL - 446
SP - 159
EP - 162
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
IS - 7132
ER -