TY - JOUR
T1 - AT 2019qyl in NGC 300
T2 - Internal Collisions in the Early Outflow from a Very Fast Nova in a Symbiotic Binary
AU - Jencson, Jacob E.
AU - Andrews, Jennifer E.
AU - Bond, Howard E.
AU - Karambelkar, Viraj
AU - Sand, David J.
AU - Van Dyk, Schuyler D.
AU - Blagorodnova, Nadejda
AU - Boyer, Martha L.
AU - Kasliwal, Mansi M.
AU - Lau, Ryan M.
AU - Mohamed, Shazrene
AU - Williams, Robert
AU - Whitelock, Patricia A.
AU - Amaro, Rachael C.
AU - Bostroem, K. Azalee
AU - Dong, Yize
AU - Lundquist, Michael J.
AU - Valenti, Stefano
AU - Wyatt, Samuel D.
AU - Burke, Jamie
AU - De, Kishalay
AU - Jha, Saurabh W.
AU - Johansson, Joel
AU - Rojas-Bravo, César
AU - Coulter, David A.
AU - Foley, Ryan J.
AU - Gehrz, Robert D.
AU - Haislip, Joshua
AU - Hiramatsu, Daichi
AU - Howell, D. Andrew
AU - Kilpatrick, Charles D.
AU - Masci, Frank J.
AU - McCully, Curtis
AU - Ngeow, Chow Choong
AU - Pan, Yen Chen
AU - Pellegrino, Craig
AU - Piro, Anthony L.
AU - Kouprianov, Vladimir
AU - Reichart, Daniel E.
AU - Rest, Armin
AU - Rest, Sofia
AU - Smith, Nathan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..
PY - 2021/10/20
Y1 - 2021/10/20
N2 - Nova eruptions, thermonuclear explosions on the surfaces of white dwarfs (WDs), are now recognized to be among the most common shock-powered astrophysical transients. We present the early discovery and rapid ultraviolet (UV), optical, and infrared (IR) temporal development of AT 2019qyl, a recent nova in the nearby Sculptor Group galaxy NGC 300. The light curve shows a rapid rise lasting ≲1 day, reaching a peak absolute magnitude of MV = -9.2 mag and a very fast decline, fading by 2 mag over 3.5 days. A steep dropoff in the light curves after 71 days and the rapid decline timescale suggest a low-mass ejection from a massive WD with M WD ⪆ 1.2 M o˙. We present an unprecedented view of the early spectroscopic evolution of such an event. Three spectra prior to the peak reveal a complex, multicomponent outflow giving rise to internal collisions and shocks in the ejecta of an He/N-class nova. We identify a coincident IR-variable counterpart in the extensive preeruption coverage of the transient location and infer the presence of a symbiotic progenitor system with an O-rich asymptotic-giant-branch donor star, as well as evidence for an earlier UV-bright outburst in 2014. We suggest that AT 2019qyl is analogous to the subset of Galactic recurrent novae with red-giant companions such as RS Oph and other embedded nova systems like V407 Cyg. Our observations provide new evidence that internal shocks between multiple, distinct outflow components likely contribute to the generation of the shock-powered emission from such systems.
AB - Nova eruptions, thermonuclear explosions on the surfaces of white dwarfs (WDs), are now recognized to be among the most common shock-powered astrophysical transients. We present the early discovery and rapid ultraviolet (UV), optical, and infrared (IR) temporal development of AT 2019qyl, a recent nova in the nearby Sculptor Group galaxy NGC 300. The light curve shows a rapid rise lasting ≲1 day, reaching a peak absolute magnitude of MV = -9.2 mag and a very fast decline, fading by 2 mag over 3.5 days. A steep dropoff in the light curves after 71 days and the rapid decline timescale suggest a low-mass ejection from a massive WD with M WD ⪆ 1.2 M o˙. We present an unprecedented view of the early spectroscopic evolution of such an event. Three spectra prior to the peak reveal a complex, multicomponent outflow giving rise to internal collisions and shocks in the ejecta of an He/N-class nova. We identify a coincident IR-variable counterpart in the extensive preeruption coverage of the transient location and infer the presence of a symbiotic progenitor system with an O-rich asymptotic-giant-branch donor star, as well as evidence for an earlier UV-bright outburst in 2014. We suggest that AT 2019qyl is analogous to the subset of Galactic recurrent novae with red-giant companions such as RS Oph and other embedded nova systems like V407 Cyg. Our observations provide new evidence that internal shocks between multiple, distinct outflow components likely contribute to the generation of the shock-powered emission from such systems.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118203867&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85118203867&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/ac1424
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ac1424
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118203867
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 920
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2
M1 - 127
ER -