Bibcode
Darnley, M. J.; Hounsell, R.; O'Brien, T. J.; Henze, M.; Rodríguez-Gil, P.; Shafter, A. W.; Shara, M. M.; Vaytet, N. M. H.; Bode, M. F.; Ciardullo, R.; Davis, B. D.; Galera-Rosillo, R.; Harman, D. J.; Harvey, E. J.; Healy, M. W.; Ness, J.-U.; Ribeiro, V. A. R. M.; Williams, S. C.
Bibliographical reference
Nature, Volume 565, Issue 7740, p.460-463
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1
2019
Journal
Citations
32
Refereed citations
27
Description
The accretion of hydrogen onto a white dwarf star ignites a classical
nova eruption1,2—a thermonuclear runaway in the
accumulated envelope of gas, leading to luminosities up to a million
times that of the Sun and a high-velocity mass ejection that produces a
remnant shell (mainly consisting of insterstellar medium). Close to the
upper mass limit of a white dwarf3 (1.4 solar masses), rapid
accretion of hydrogen (about 10-7 solar masses per year) from
a stellar companion leads to frequent eruptions on timescales of
years4,5 to decades6. Such binary systems are
known as recurrent novae. The ejecta of recurrent novae, initially
moving at velocities of up to 10,000 kilometres per second7,
must `sweep up' the surrounding interstellar medium, creating cavities
in space around the nova binary. No remnant larger than one parsec
across from any single classical or recurrent nova eruption is
known8-10, but thousands of successive recurrent nova
eruptions should be capable of generating shells hundreds of parsecs
across. Here we report that the most frequently recurring nova, M31N
2008-12a in the Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31 or NGC 224), which erupts
annually11, is indeed surrounded by such a super-remnant with
a projected size of at least 134 by 90 parsecs. Larger than almost all
known remnants of even supernova explosions12, the existence
of this shell demonstrates that the nova M31N 2008-12a has erupted with
high frequency for millions of years.
Related projects
Binary Stars
The study of binary stars is essential to stellar astrophysics. A large number of stars form and evolve within binary systems. Therefore, their study is fundamental to understand stellar and galactic evolution. Particularly relevant is that binary systems are still the best source of precise stellar mass and radius measurements. Research lines
Pablo
Rodríguez Gil