Koji Mukai, Thomas Nelson, Laura Chomiuk, Davide Donato, Jennifer Sokoloski
We present a summary of Swift and Suzaku X-ray observations of the 2010 nova
outburst of the symbiotic star, V407 Cyg. The Suzaku spectrum obtained on day
30 indicates the presence of the supersoft component from the white dwarf
surface, as well as optically thin component from the shock between the nova
ejecta and the Mira wind. The Swift observations then allow us to track the
evolution of both components from day 4 to day 150. Most notable is the sudden
brightening of the optically thin component around day 20. We identify this as
the time when the blast wave reached the immediate vicinity of the photosphere
of the Mira. We have developed a simple model of the blast wave-wind
interaction that can reproduce the gross features of the X-ray evolution of
V407 Cyg, and explore a parameter space of ejected mass, binary separation and
Mira mass loss rate. If the model is correct, the binary separation is likely
to be larger then previously suggested and the mass loss rate of the Mira is
likely to be relatively low.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.5645
No comments:
Post a Comment