PU Vulpeculae

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PU Vulpeculae
PUVulLightCurve.png
A visual band light curve for PU Vulpeculae, adapted from Belyakina et al., [1] Kolotilov & Belyakina, [2] and Chochol et al.. [3] The main plots show the long-term variability, and the inset plot within the upper panel shows the Mira pulsations.
Observation data
Epoch J2000       Equinox J2000
Constellation Vulpecula
Right ascension 20h 21m 13.311s [4]
Declination 21° 34′ 18.70″ [4]
Apparent magnitude  (V)8.7 to 16.6 [5]
Characteristics
Spectral type M6 [6]
Variable type Slow nova [5]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ)RA: −3.002  mas/yr [4]
Dec.: −6.006  mas/yr [4]
Parallax (π)0.1909 ± 0.0393  mas [4]
Distance approx. 17,000  ly
(approx. 5,000  pc)
Details
Red giant
Mass 0.5–0.9 [6]   M☉
Temperature 3,200±100 [6]   K
White dwarf
Mass 0.6 [6]   M☉
Radius 0.04 [7]  –97 [6]   R☉
Luminosity5,900 –16,800 [6]   L☉
Temperature 6,300 –165,000 [6]   K
Other designations
Kuwano-Honda, Kuwano's Nebula, Kuwano's Object, Nova Vul 1979, PU Vul, GSC  1643.01021, IRAS 20189+2124 [8]
Database references
SIMBAD data

PU Vulpeculae is a very slowly evolving symbiotic nova in the northern constellation of Vulpecula, abbreviated PU Vul. It is too faint to be visible to the naked eye, reaching a maximum apparent visual magnitude of 8.7 following a minimum of 16.6. The system is located at a distance of approximately 17,000  light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements.

The brightening of this object during April 1979 was independently discovered by Y. Kuwano and M. Honda. At detection, it had a visual magnitude of 9.1 and was initially designated Nova Vulpeculae 1979. Photographic plates taken since November 1977 showed a dramatic increase of five magnitudes at the time of discovery. In September, 1978, it had been catalogued as a stellar class of M4. [9] A search of Harvard Observatory archival plates taken since 1898 showed several smaller eruptions of this star. [10]

For much of 1979 the object had a brightness of magnitude 8.9 [2] while varying by a magnitude of 0.15 with a period of about 80 says, [11] then it began to fade rapidly in 1980, [12] reaching a minimum magnitude of 13.65 in August. At this minimum, the spectrum showed bands of the TiO molecule, which is typical of lower temperature M-type stars. [1] It began to brighten again at about the same rate as the decrease, reaching magnitude 8.5 in August, 1981. [2] The star remained mostly stable at this level for about a year, displaying a pair of brief dips in brightness during 1982. Polarization of the light indicated the formation of large dust particles, which was suggested as a cause of the brightness decrease in 1980. [1]

A soft X-ray halo was detected around the object in 1980, as well as a weaker ring-like structure. [13] Infrared observations in 1980 suggested this is a symbiotic binary star system consisting of a variable, evolved star that has expanded to fill its Roche lobe and is periodically transferring mass to a faint, compact companion. However, the system did not show the expected emission lines from the infalling material. [14] The spectrum at the minimum indicated the evolved star is a giant of class M6. [1] The hot component showed a supergiant or bright giant spectrum that changed from a class of F5 in 1983 to A2 in 1986, [15] while the brightness remained near magnitude 8.7. [16] During this time the hot component changed from resembling a 97  R☉ supergiant with a temperature similar to the Sun into a white dwarf smaller than the sun with a temperature in excess of 150,000  K . [6] Emission lines became visible in 1988 as the outer layers were shed and became a nebula surrounding the white dwarf remnant. [15]

The brightness of this object finally began to steadily decrease in 1987. By September 1989, it had declined to magnitude 10.5. The spectrum began to resemble a nebula, which came from a hot stellar wind expanding at a velocity of 500 km/s or more. In 1993, the emission features from the wind temporarily disappeared, which suggested the system was undergoing an eclipse. The data indicated this is an eclipsing binary with an orbital period of 13.42±0.27 years, which meant the orbital plane is nearly aligned with the line of sight from the Earth. An eclipse would explain the unusual minimum during 1980. [16] The cool component was determined to be on the asymptotic giant branch and is pulsating with a period of 217 days, making it a Mira variable. [3] The compact companion is a white dwarf with mass estimated at 60% of the mass of the Sun. [6] The system displays an "illumination effect" caused by the ionization of the stellar wind from the giant by the dwarf. The light curve of this variation suggests an orbital eccentricity of at least 0.16. [6]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">12 Vulpeculae</span> Star in the constellation Vulpecula

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">BW Vulpeculae</span> Star in the constellation Vulpecula

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">UX Ursae Majoris</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SZ Piscium</span> Star system in the constellation Pisces

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">BH Virginis</span> Eclipsing binary star in the constellation Virgo

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HU Tauri</span> Binary star in the constellation Taurus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SZ Lyncis</span> Variable star in the constellation of Lynx

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ER Vulpeculae</span> Variable star in the constellation Vulpecula

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">QQ Vulpeculae</span> Variable star in the constellation Vulpecula

QQ Vulpeculae is a cataclysmic variable binary star system in the northern constellation of Vulpecula, abbreviated QQ Vul. It has a brightness that fluctuates around an apparent visual magnitude of 14.7, which is too faint to be viewed with the naked eye. The distance to this system is approximately 981 light years based on parallax measurements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SW Ursae Majoris</span> Variable star in the constellation Ursa Major

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">AW Ursae Majoris</span> Variable star in the constellation Ursa Major

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">4 Draconis</span> Variable star in the constellation Draco

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Belyakina, T. S.; et al. (March 1984), "Kuwano-Honda peculiar object (PU Vul)", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 132: L12–L14, Bibcode:1984A&A...132L..12B.
  2. 1 2 3 Kolotilov, E. A.; Belyakina, T. S. (March 1982), "The Optical Variability of PU Vulpeculae (Kuwano's Object) in 1979-1981", Information Bulletin on Variable Stars, 2097: 1, Bibcode:1982IBVS.2097....1K.
  3. 1 2 Chochol, D.; et al. (March 1998), "Pulsating AGB star in the symbiotic nova PU Vulpeculae", Information Bulletin on Variable Stars, 4571: 1, Bibcode:1998IBVS.4571....1C.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics . 649: A1. arXiv: 2012.01533 . Bibcode:2021A&A...649A...1G. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202039657 . S2CID   227254300. (Erratum:  doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657e). Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  5. 1 2 Samus, N. N.; et al. (2017), "General Catalogue of Variable Stars", Astronomy Reports , 5.1, 61 (1): 80–88, Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S, doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085, S2CID   125853869.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kato, Mariko; et al. (May 2012), "Evolution of the Symbiotic Nova PU Vul—Outbursting White Dwarf, Nebulae, and Pulsating Red Giant Companion", The Astrophysical Journal, 750 (1): 5, arXiv: 1202.6171 , Bibcode:2012ApJ...750....5K, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/750/1/5, S2CID   119303844, 5.
  7. ↑ Cúneo, Virginia A.; et al. (September 2018), "An illumination effect and an eccentric orbit for the symbiotic binary PU Vul revealed by 32 yr of optical spectroscopy", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 479 (2): 2728–2742, arXiv: 1802.10565 , Bibcode:2018MNRAS.479.2728C, doi:10.1093/mnras/sty1686.
  8. ↑ "PU Vul". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  9. ↑ Honda, M.; et al. (August 1979), "Observations of a novalike object in Vulpecula", Tokyo Astronomical Bulletin, 262: 2983–2991, Bibcode:1979TokAB.262.2983H.
  10. ↑ Liller, M. H.; Liller, W. (September 1979), "The pre-maximum light curve of the slow Nova Vulpeculae 1979", Astronomical Journal, 84: 1357–1358, Bibcode:1979AJ.....84.1357L, doi: 10.1086/112550 .
  11. ↑ Kenyon, S. J. (March 1986), "Spectroscopic observations of PU Vulpeculae", Astronomical Journal, 91: 563–569, Bibcode:1986AJ.....91..563K, doi: 10.1086/114037 .
  12. ↑ Belyakina, T. S.; et al. (February 1982), "Object Kuwano, a novalike (symbiotic?) binary with a red giant: photometry and polarimetry", Soviet Astronomy, 26: 1–3, Bibcode:1982SvA....26....1B.
  13. ↑ Cordova, F. A.; Mason, K. O. (September 1980), "A soft X-ray halo around SU UMa", Nature, 287 (5777): 25–27, Bibcode:1980Natur.287...25C, doi:10.1038/287025a0, S2CID   4322830.
  14. ↑ Bensammar, S.; et al. (March 1980), "Infrared observations of Kuwano's novalike object", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 83: 261–262, Bibcode:1980A&A....83..261B.
  15. 1 2 Bensammar, S.; et al. (May 1991), "The infrared spectrum of the eruptive star PU Vulpeculae", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 245: 575, Bibcode:1991A&A...245..575B.
  16. 1 2 Nussbaumer, H.; Vogel, M. (March 1996), "PU Vulpeculae: an eclipsing symbiotic nova", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 307: 470–480, Bibcode:1996A&A...307..470N.

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