Related papers: T Pyxidis: The First Cataclysmic Variable with a C…
Recently, it has been claimed that the recurrent nova T Pyx exhibits oppositely directed jets of ejecta apparent in features seen in H alpha emission. Here we demonstrate that these features are in fact emission in the [N II] lines which…
Blue- and red-shifted Hydrogen and Helium satellite recombination lines have recently been discovered in the optical spectra of at least two supersoft X-ray sources (SSSs), RX J0513-069 and RX J0019.8+2156, and tentatively also in one…
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…
Accretion disks and nuclear shell burning are present in some symbiotic stars (SS) and probably all supersoft X-ray binaries (SSXBs). Both the disk and burning shell may be involved in the production of dramatic outbursts and, in some…
We find that the ROSAT source 1RXS J105010.3-140431 is a cataclysmic variable with orbital period of 88.6 minutes and a spectrum closely resembling WZ Sge. In particular, emission lines are flanked by Stark-broadened absorption wings…
Most symbiotic stars consist of a white dwarf accreting material from the wind of a red giant. An increasing number of these objects have been found to produce jets. Analysis of archival Chandra data of the symbiotic system CH Cygni reveals…
From 1994 to 1997 we monitored the optical spectrum of RXJ0019.8+2156. This supersoft X-ray source is one of only two accreting white dwarfs in the Galaxy thought to be burning hydrogen on their surface as a consequence of a high rate of…
We present the first X-ray observations with the XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL satellites of the recently discovered cataclysmic variable 1RXSJ173021.5-055933, together with simultaneous UV and coordinated optical photometry aiming at…
We report the discovery of a transient jet in the supersoft X-ray source RX J0925-4758 . The jet was observed in the Halpha line during a single night in June 1997 and had disappeared one day later. RX J0925-4758 is the third supersoft…
We show that the extremely high luminosity of the short-period recurrent nova T Pyx in quiescence can be understood if this system is a wind-driven supersoft x-ray source (SSS). In this scenario, a strong, radiation-induced wind is excited…
The spectral signature of collimated bipolar jets have been discovered on high resolution spectra of Hen 3-1341 during the 1999 outburst, the first ever recorded for this symbiotic star. The jets show up as emission components at DeltaRV =…
BZ Cam is the first cataclysmic variable star with an accretion disk wind evident in its optical spectrum. The wind was found by Thorstensen, who discovered intermittent P Cygni profiles occurring simultaneously in He I 5876 Angstroms and H…
The formation of relativistic jets by an accreting compact object is one of the fundamental mysteries of astrophysics. While the theory is poorly understood, observations of relativistic jets from systems known as microquasars have led to a…
Supernova remnants are believed to be the main sites where Galactic cosmic rays originate. This scenario, however, fails to explain some of the features observed in the cosmic-ray spectrum. Microquasars have been proposed as additional…
Astrophysical jets seem to occur in nearly all types of accreting objects: from supermassive black holes to young stellar objects. Based on X-ray binaries, a unified scenario describing the disc/jet coupling has evolved and extended to many…
Jets have been detected in only a few symbiotic binaries to date, and CH Cyg is one of them. In 2001, a non-relativistic jet was detected in CH Cyg for the first time in X-rays. We carried out coordinated Chandra, HST, and VLA observations…
Collimated outflows (jets) appear to be a ubiquitous phenomenon associated with the accretion of material onto a compact object. Despite this ubiquity, many fundamental physics aspects of jets are still poorly understood and constrained.…
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…
For decades cataclysmic variables (CVs) were thought to be one of the few classes of accreting compact objects to not launch jets, and have consequently been used to constrain jet launching models. However, recent theoretical and…
The nova T Pyx was observed with high resolution spectroscopy (R ~ 65000) spectroscopy, beginning 1 day after discovery of the outburst and continuing through the last visibility of the star at the end of May 2011. The interstellar…