Pre-nova X-ray observations of V2491 Cyg (Nova Cyg 2008b)
Astrophysics of Galaxies
2009-11-13 v1
Abstract
Classical novae are phenomena caused by explosive hydrogen burning on an accreting white dwarf. So far, only one classical nova has been identified in X-rays before the actual optical outburst occurred (V2487 Oph). The recently discovered nova, V2491 Cyg, is one of the fastest (He/N) novae observed so far. Using archival ROSAT, XMM-Newton and Swift data, we show that V2491 Cyg was a persistent X-ray source during its quiescent time before the optical outburst. We present the X-ray spectral characteristics and derive X-ray fluxes. The pre-outburst X-ray emission is variable, and at least in one observation it shows a very soft X-ray source.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0902.3943,
title = {Pre-nova X-ray observations of V2491 Cyg (Nova Cyg 2008b)},
author = {A. Ibarra and E. Kuulkers and J. P. Osborne and K. Page and J. U. Ness and R. D. Saxton and W. Baumgartner and V. Beckmann and M. F. Bode and M. Hernanz and K. Mukai and M. Orio and G. Sala and S. Starrfield and G. A. Wynn},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0902.3943},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, 2 figures. Astronomy and Astrophysics, in press