RW Ursae Minoris

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RW Ursae Minoris
RWUMiLocation.png
Location of RW Ursae Minoris (circled in red)
Observation data
Epoch J2000       Equinox J2000
Constellation Ursa Minor
Right ascension 16h 47m 54.8186s [1]
Declination +77° 02′ 12.047″ [1]
Apparent magnitude  (V)6 Max.
>21 Min. [2]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ)RA: −0.574 [1]   mas/yr
Dec.: −1.940 [1]   mas/yr
Parallax (π)0.4296 ± 0.1644  mas [1]
Distance 2,558+2,138
−767 [3]   pc
Characteristics
Variable type classical nova
Other designations
AAVSO 1651+77, Nova UMi 1956, Gaia DR2  1704994848488583552 [2] [4]
Database references
SIMBAD data
A light curve for RW Ursae Minoris, adapted from Ahnert (1963) and Bianchini et al. (2003) RWUMiLightCurve.png
A light curve for RW Ursae Minoris, adapted from Ahnert (1963) and Bianchini et al. (2003)

RW Ursae Minoris (Nova Ursae Minoris 1956) is a cataclysmic variable star system that flared up as a nova in the constellation Ursa Minor in 1956.

Although the nova eruption of RW UMi occurred in 1956, it was not noticed until nearly six years later when, in 1962, V. Satyvaldiev found it on sky-patrol plates of the Astrophysical Institute of the Tajik Academy of Sciences in Dushanbe. On 24 September 1956 it had an apparent magnitude of 6. [7] It may have been as bright as magnitude 3.5 around 19 September 1956, which would have made it easily visible to the naked eye, but the full moon on 20 September 1956 would have hampered observations around that date. [8] RW Ursae Minoris's pre-nova brightness was about magnitude 21, but early in the 21st century it was still two magnitudes brighter than that. [6]

Novae tend to be found near the galactic plane, but RW Ursae Minoris has a galactic latitude of 33 degrees, which is far from the plane of the Milky Way. Because of this, and its large outburst amplitude, astronomers were initially unsure about whether RW Ursae Minoris was a nova in the Milky Way or a supernova in another galaxy. [7] [9] It was eventually identified as a nova in the galactic halo on the basis of its light curve and spectrum. [8] [10]

All novae are binary stars, with a "donor" star orbiting a white dwarf. The donor star is so close to the white dwarf that material from the donor is transferred to the white dwarf. In 1995 Retter and Lipkin detected a low amplitude (0.1 - 0.2 magnitude) variation in RW Ursae Minoris's brightness with a period of 1.4 hours. They argued that this 1.4 hour period is probably the orbital period of the binary pair, which would make it the shortest period orbit for any known nova. [11]

RW Ursae Minoris is surrounded by a small nova remnant shell. In 1985, Judith Cohen reported its radius as 1 arc second based observations with the Hale Telescope. [12] In 1995 Esenoglu et al. observed it with the Copernico 1.82 m telescope and measured a radius of ~1.5 arc seconds. [13]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LL Andromedae</span> Dwarf nova star in the constellation Andromeda

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">V Persei</span> Nova event seen in 1887 in the constellation Perseus

V Persei, also known as Nova Persei 1887 was discovered by Williamina Fleming on a Harvard College Observatory objective-prism photograph taken on 3 November 1887. It is believed to be the first nova whose spectrum was recorded. The nova had an apparent magnitude of 9.2 at the time of discovery. Judging from the consistency of the nova's brightness after discovery, and details of the spectral lines seen, McLaughlin estimated that the nova was five or six months past peak brightness at the time of its discovery, and at its peak it was almost certainly at least as bright as 4th magnitude. So V Persei was probably visible to the naked eye, though there is no record that anyone actually noticed it when that was possible. It is currently an 18th magnitude object.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EL Aquilae</span> 1927 nova in the constellation Aquila

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">QZ Aurigae</span> Nova seen in 1964

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GI Monocerotis</span> 1918 Nova in the constellation Monoceros

GI Monocerotis, also known as Nova Monocerotis 1918, was a nova that erupted in the constellation Monoceros during 1918. It was discovered by Max Wolf on a photographic plate taken at the Heidelberg Observatory on 4 February 1918. At the time of its discovery, it had a photographic magnitude of 8.5, and had already passed its peak brightness. A search of plates taken at the Harvard College Observatory showed that it had a photographic magnitude of 5.4 on 1 January 1918, so it would have been visible to the naked eye around that time. By March 1918 it had dropped to ninth or tenth magnitude. By November 1920 it was a little fainter than 15th magnitude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RZ Leonis Minoris</span> Variable star in the constellation Leo Minor

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

SW Ursae Majoris is a cataclysmic binary star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major, abbreviated SW UMa. During quiescence it has an apparent visual magnitude of 16.5–17, which is too faint to be visible to the naked eye. Based on parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of approximately 526 light years from the Sun.

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

ER Ursae Majoris is a variable star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major, abbreviated ER UMa. It is a prototype system for a subclass of SU Ursae Majoris dwarf novae. The system ranges in brightness from a peak apparent visual magnitude of 12.4 down to 15.2, which is too faint to be visible to the naked eye. The distance to this system, based on parallax measurements, is approximately 1,163 light years.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia Collaboration) (2022). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics . arXiv: 2208.00211 . doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243940 . Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. 1 2 Schaefer, Bradley E. (2018). "The distances to Novae as seen by Gaia". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 481 (3): 3033–3051. arXiv: 1809.00180 . Bibcode:2018MNRAS.481.3033S. doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2388. S2CID   118925493.
  3. ↑ Bailer-Jones, C. A. L.; Rybizki, J.; Fouesneau, M.; Demleitner, M.; Andrae, R. (2021). "Estimating Distances from Parallaxes. V. Geometric and Photogeometric Distances to 1.47 Billion Stars in Gaia Early Data Release 3". The Astronomical Journal. 161 (3): 147. arXiv: 2012.05220 . Bibcode:2021AJ....161..147B. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/abd806 . S2CID   228063812.
  4. ↑ "RW Ursae Minoris". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  5. ↑ Ahnert, P. (January 29, 1963). "Nova Ursae Minoris 1956 (Fortsetzung)". Mitteilungen über Veränderliche Sterne. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  6. 1 2 Bianchini, A.; Tappert, C.; Canterna, R.; Tamburini, F.; Osborne, H.; Cantrell, K. (2003). "RW Ursae Minoris (1956): An Evolving Postnova System". The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 115 (809): 811–18. Bibcode:2003PASP..115..811B. doi:10.1086/376434. S2CID   123571502.
  7. 1 2 Kukarkin, B.V. (December 1962). "Nova or Supernova". Information Bulletin on Variable Stars. 18 (1): 1. Bibcode:1962IBVS...18....1K . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  8. 1 2 Ahnert, P. (January 1963). "Nova Ursae Minoris 1956". Information Bulletin on Variable Stars. 19: 1. Bibcode:1963IBVS...19....1A . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Efremov, Y.N. (January 1962). "SVS 1359 - Nova with large amplitude or supernova". Astronomicheskii Tsirkulyar. 232: 2–3. Bibcode:1962ATsir.232....2E . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  10. ↑ Duerbeck, H.W. (January 1985). "Novae in the galactic halo?". Mitteilungen der Astronomischen Gesellschaft. 63: 190. Bibcode:1985MitAG..63..190D . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Retter, A.; Lipkin, Y. (January 2001). "The detection of a 1.4-h period in RW Ursa Minoris - candidate for shortest recorded orbital period nova". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 365 (3): 508–513. arXiv: astro-ph/0011272 . Bibcode:2001A&A...365..508R. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361:20000150 .
  12. ↑ Cohen, J.G. (May 1985). "Nova shells. II. Calibration of the distance scale using novae". The Astrophysical Journal. 292: 90–103. Bibcode:1985ApJ...292...90C. doi:10.1086/163135. S2CID   121851918 . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  13. ↑ Esenoglu, H.H.; Saygac, A.T.; Bianchini, A.; Retter, A.; Ozkan, M.T.; Altan, M. (December 2000). "A study of RW Ursae Minoris shell". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 364: 191–198. Bibcode:2000A&A...364..191E . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
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