Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T17:26:31.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ultraviolet Observations of Classical Novae in Outburst

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Angelo Cassatella
Affiliation:
ESA IUE Observatory, Villafranca, Spain
Rosario Gonzalez-Riestra
Affiliation:
ESA IUE Observatory, Villafranca, Spain

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

More than a dozen classical novae in outburst have been observed with the International Ultraviolet Explorer since its launch in 1978. These data represent a crucial breakthrough in understanding several aspects of the classical novae phenomenon including nucleosynthesis, the energetics of the explosion, the dynamics of the mass ejection, and the processes of dust formation. Also they are important to gain insight on the nature of the white dwarf components and then on the evolutionary scenario of these binary systems.

The UV emission lines include important transitions from several species such as He, C, N and O, Ne, Mg, and Al which, whenever symultaneous optical data were available, have lead to a detailed knowledge of the physical conditions in the nebular phases and to the determination, with unprecedented accuracy, of the chemical abundances in the ejecta (see e.g.: Stickland et al. 1981; Williams et al. 1985; Snijders et al. 1987). Precise abundance determinations provide crucial constraints on nucleosinthesis during TNR as well as on the efficiency of diffusion and mixing processes. The ultraviolet range provides also effective means to determine the value of the reddening from the strength of the 2200 A dust feature or from the emission line ratios; an accurate determination of this parameter from the UV is essential, for example, to determine the energy budget of novae and the temperature of the remnants.

Type
1b. Novae During Outbursts
Copyright
Copyright © Springer-Verlag 1990

References

Bath, G.T., Harkness, R.P.: 1988, in “Classical Novae”, ed. Bode, M., Evans, A., (John Wiley) p. 61 Google Scholar
Cassatella, A., Selvelli, P.L.: 1988, in “A Decade of UV Astronomy with IUE”, GSFC, Greenbelt, ESA-SP-281, Vol. 1, p. 9 Google Scholar
Evans, A.: 1989, private communicationGoogle Scholar
Fernandez-Castro, T., Cassatella, A., Gimenez, A., Viotti, R.: 1988, Ap. J. 324, 1016 Google Scholar
Friedjung, M.: 1988, in “Classical Novae”, eds. Bode, M. and Evans, A., (John Wiley) p. 187 Google Scholar
Gehrz, R.D.: 1988, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 26, 377 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, J.S., Code, A.D.: 1974,Ap. J., 189, 303 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassall, B.M.J. et al.: 1990, these ProceedingsGoogle Scholar
Snijders, M.A.J., Batt, T.J., Seaton, M.J., Blades, J.C., Morton, D.C.: 1984, Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 211, 7p Google Scholar
Snijders, M.A.J.: 1986, in “RS Ophiuchi”, ed. Bode, M.F., VNU Science Press, p. 51 Google Scholar
Snijders, M.A.J., Batt, T.J., Roche, P.F., Seaton, M.J., Morton, D.C., Spoelstra, T.A.T., Blades, J.C.: 1987, Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 228, 329 Google Scholar
Starrfield, S.: 1986, in “New Insights in Astrophysics”, University College London, ESA-SP263, p. 239 Google Scholar
Starrfield, S. Sparks, W.M., Truran, J.W.: 1986, Astrophys. J. Letters 303, L5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sparks, W.M., Starrfield, S.W.M., Truran, J.W.: 1976, Astrophys. J. 208, 819 Google Scholar
Starrfield, S., Snijders, M.A.J.: 1987, in “Exploring the Universe with the IUE Satellite”, Ed. Kondo, Y. and Wamsteker, W., D.Reidel(Dordrecht), p. 377 Google Scholar
Stickland, D.J., Penn, C.J., Seaton, M.J., Snijders, M.A.J., Storey, P.J.: 1981, Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 197, 107 Google Scholar
Wamsteker, W.: 1979, Astron. Astrophys. 76, 226 Google Scholar
Wamsteker, W., Driessen, C., Munoz, J.R., Hassall, B.M.J., Paisan, F., Barylak, M., Russo, G., Egret, D., Murray, J., Talavera, A., Heck, A.: 1989, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 79, 1 Google Scholar
Williams, R.E., Ney, E.P., Sparks, W.M., Starrfield, S.G., Wyckoff, S., Truran, J.W.: 1985, Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 212, 753 Google Scholar