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Hubble Space Telescope far ultraviolet spectroscopy of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis

Godon, P; Sion, EM; Starrfield, S; Livio, M; Williams, RE; Woodward, CE; Kuin, P; (2014) Hubble Space Telescope far ultraviolet spectroscopy of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis. Astrophysical Journal Letters , 784 (2) , Article L33. 10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L33. Green open access

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Abstract

With six recorded nova outbursts, the prototypical recurrent nova T Pyxidis (T Pyx) is the ideal cataclysmic variable system to assess the net change of the white dwarf mass within a nova cycle. Recent estimates of the mass ejected in the 2011 outburst ranged from a few ∼10 M to 3.3 × 10 M, and assuming a mass accretion rate of 10-10 M yr for 44 yr, it has been concluded that the white dwarf in T Pyx is actually losing mass. Using NLTE disk modeling spectra to fit our recently obtained Hubble Space Telescope COS and STIS spectra, we find a mass accretion rate of up to two orders of magnitude larger than previously estimated. Our larger mass accretion rate is due mainly to the newly derived distance of T Pyx (4.8 kpc, larger than the previous 3.5 kpc estimate), our derived reddening of E(B-V) = 0.35 (based on combined IUE and GALEX spectra), and NLTE disk modeling (compared to blackbody and raw flux estimates in earlier works). We find that for most values of the reddening (0.25 ≤ E(B-V) ≤ 0.50) and white dwarf mass (0.70 M · ≤ M wd ≤ 1.35 M ·) the accreted mass is larger than the ejected mass. Only for a low reddening (∼0.25 and smaller) combined with a large white dwarf mass (0.9 M and larger) is the ejected mass larger than the accreted one. However, the best results are obtained for a larger value of reddening. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Type: Article
Title: Hubble Space Telescope far ultraviolet spectroscopy of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L33
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L33
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1462516
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