English

U Sco 2010 outburst: observational evidence of an underlying ONeMg white dwarf

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2015-05-28 v1

Abstract

This paper presents U Sco nebular spectra collected in the period March-May 2010 after the binary outburst on Jan 28, 2010. The spectra display strong [Ne V] and [Ne III] lines that can be used to compute the relative abundance of [Ne/O]. The value obtained ([Ne/O]=1.69) is higher than the typical [Ne/O] abundance found in classical novae from CO progenitors and suggests that U Sco has a ONeMg white-dwarf progenitor. It follows that U Sco will not explode as a SN Ia but rather collapse to become a neutron star or a millisecond pulsar.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1107.4013,
  title  = {U Sco 2010 outburst: observational evidence of an underlying ONeMg white dwarf},
  author = {Elena Mason},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1107.4013},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication on A&A Letter; 4 pages 3 figures