Related papers: Recurrent Novae - A Review
T Pyx is a recurrent nova which has undergone eruptions on an almost regular basis every 20 years until reaching a long lasting quiescence between 1967 and 2011. We observed the long awaited 2011 explosion in the optical and near infrared…
Despite being the prototype of its class, T Pyx is arguably the most unusual and poorly understood recurrent nova. Here, we use radio observations from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to trace the evolution of the ejecta over the course…
Novae are thermonuclear eruptions on accreting white dwarfs in interacting binaries. Although most of the accreted envelope is expelled, the mechanism -- impulsive ejection, multiple outflows or prolonged winds, or a common-envelope…
There is a wide consensus in the astrophysics community that the mechanism underlying the observed Classical Nova eruptions is a surface thermonuclear runaway. We start this short review with the main observational facts that lead to the…
The recurrent nova T Pyxidis (T Pyx) is well known for its small binary separation, its unusually high luminosity in quiescence, and the spectacular Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of its surrounding remnant. In 2011 April, T Pyx…
We continue our study of the physical properties of the recurrent nova T Pyx, focussing on the structure of the ejecta in the nebular stage of expansion during the 2011 outburst. The nova was observed contemporaneously with the Nordic…
Novae, which are the sudden visual brightening triggered by runaway thermonuclear burning on the surface of an accreting white dwarf, are fairly common and bright events. Despite their astronomical significance as nearby laboratories for…
T Pyxidis is the prototypical recurrent nova (RN) with a mysterious nova shell. We report new observations of the shell with HST. The knots in the shell are expanding with velocities 500-715 km/s, for a distance of 3500 pc. The fractional…
All novae recur, but only a handful have been observed in eruption more than once. These systems, the recurrent novae (RNe), are among the most extreme examples of novae. RNe have long been thought of as potential type Ia supernova…
We present Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory infrared observations of the recurrent nova T Pyx during its 2011 eruption, complemented by ground-base optical-infrared photometry. We find that the eruption has heated dust…
Recurrent nova (RN) T Pyxidis (T Pyx) has a complex history of mass accreting-onto and ejection-from the white dwarf, with a classical nova eruption around 1866 kick-starting a RN-phase with six RN eruptions from 1890--2011. T Pyx is a…
We have studied the UV spectral behavior of the recurrent nova T Pyx during 16 years of IUE observations. We examined both the IUE line-by-line images and the extracted spectra in order to understand the reality and the origin of the…
The recurrent nova T Pyx underwent its sixth historical outburst in 2011, and became the subject of an intensive multi-wavelength observational campaign. We analyze data from the Swift and Suzaku satellites to produce a detailed X-ray light…
The physical mechanism driving mass ejection during a nova eruption is still poorly understood. Possibilities include ejection in a single ballistic event, a common envelope interaction, a continuous wind, or some combination of these…
We report the discovery by M. Linnolt on JD 2455665.7931 (UT 2011 April 14.29) of the sixth eruption of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis. This discovery was made just as the initial fast rise was starting, so with fast notification and response…
Classical and recurrent nova explosions occur on top of white dwarfs accreting H-rich matter from a companion main sequence or red giant star, in a close binary system. In the recent years, since the launch of the Fermi gamma-ray satellite…
Fluctuations during a prolonged maximum have been observed in several nova eruptions, although it is not clear, and can not be deduced directly from observations, if the phenomenon is an actual physical reaction to some mechanism…
High resolution spectra of postoutburst novae show multiple components of ejected gas that are kinematically distinct. We interpret the observations in terms of episodes of enhanced mass transfer originating from the secondary star that…
Recurrent novae are binary stars in which a white dwarf accretes matter from a less evolved companion, either a red giant or a main-sequence star. They have dramatic optical brightenings of around 5-6 mag in V in less than a day, several…
Novae are the observable outcome of a transient thermonuclear runaway on the surface of an accreting white dwarf in a close binary system. Their high peak luminosity renders them visible in galaxies out beyond the distance of the Virgo…