Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Rem...

### Electronic data

• 1709 (1).10145v1

Rights statement: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication/published in The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062

Accepted author manuscript, 2.96 MB, PDF document

## Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Published

### Standard

Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption. / Darnley, M. J.; Hounsell, R.; Godon, P.; Perley, D. A.; Henze, M.; Kuin, N. P. M.; Williams, B. F.; Williams, S. C.; Bode, M. F.; Harman, D. J.; Hornoch, K.; Link, M.; Ness, J. -U.; Ribeiro, V. A. R. M.; Sion, E. M.; Shafter, A. W.; Shara, M. M.

In: The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 849, No. 2, 96, 06.11.2017.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

### Harvard

Darnley, MJ, Hounsell, R, Godon, P, Perley, DA, Henze, M, Kuin, NPM, Williams, BF, Williams, SC, Bode, MF, Harman, DJ, Hornoch, K, Link, M, Ness, J-U, Ribeiro, VARM, Sion, EM, Shafter, AW & Shara, MM 2017, 'Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption', The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 849, no. 2, 96. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062

### APA

Darnley, M. J., Hounsell, R., Godon, P., Perley, D. A., Henze, M., Kuin, N. P. M., Williams, B. F., Williams, S. C., Bode, M. F., Harman, D. J., Hornoch, K., Link, M., Ness, J. -U., Ribeiro, V. A. R. M., Sion, E. M., Shafter, A. W., & Shara, M. M. (2017). Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption. The Astrophysical Journal, 849(2), [96]. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062

### Vancouver

Darnley MJ, Hounsell R, Godon P, Perley DA, Henze M, Kuin NPM et al. Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption. The Astrophysical Journal. 2017 Nov 6;849(2). 96. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062

### Author

Darnley, M. J. ; Hounsell, R. ; Godon, P. ; Perley, D. A. ; Henze, M. ; Kuin, N. P. M. ; Williams, B. F. ; Williams, S. C. ; Bode, M. F. ; Harman, D. J. ; Hornoch, K. ; Link, M. ; Ness, J. -U. ; Ribeiro, V. A. R. M. ; Sion, E. M. ; Shafter, A. W. ; Shara, M. M. / Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption. In: The Astrophysical Journal. 2017 ; Vol. 849, No. 2.

### Bibtex

@article{bc2a524709d6427bbaa3f3932fb9aa90,
title = "Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption",
abstract = "The recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a experiences annual eruptions, contains a near-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf, and has the largest mass accretion rate in any nova system. In this paper, we present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/UVIS photometry of the late decline of the 2015 eruption. We couple these new data with archival HST observations of the quiescent system and Keck spectroscopy of the 2014 eruption. The late-time photometry reveals a rapid decline to a minimum luminosity state, before a possible recovery / re-brightening in the run-up to the next eruption. Comparison with accretion disk models supports the survival of the accretion disk during the eruptions, and uncovers a quiescent disk mass accretion rate of the order of $10^{-6}\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$, which may rise beyond $10^{-5}\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ during the super-soft source phase - both of which could be problematic for a number of well-established nova eruption models. Such large accretion rates, close to the Eddington limit, might be expected to be accompanied by additional mass loss from the disk through a wind and even collimated outflows. The archival HST observations, combined with the disk modeling, provide the first constraints on the mass donor; $L_\mathrm{donor}=103^{+12}_{-11}\,L_\odot$, $R_\mathrm{donor}=14.14^{+0.46}_{-0.47}\,R_\odot$, and $T_\mathrm{eff, donor}=4890\pm110$ K, which may be consistent with an irradiated M31 red-clump star. Such a donor would require a system orbital period $\gtrsim5$ days. Our updated analysis predicts that the M31N 2008-12a WD could reach the Chandrasekhar mass in",
keywords = "astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.SR, accretion, accretion disks, novae, cataclysmic variables, galaxies: individual (M31) , stars: individual (M31N 2008-12a) , ultraviolet: stars",
author = "Darnley, {M. J.} and R. Hounsell and P. Godon and Perley, {D. A.} and M. Henze and Kuin, {N. P. M.} and Williams, {B. F.} and Williams, {S. C.} and Bode, {M. F.} and Harman, {D. J.} and K. Hornoch and M. Link and Ness, {J. -U.} and Ribeiro, {V. A. R. M.} and Sion, {E. M.} and Shafter, {A. W.} and Shara, {M. M.}",
note = "This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication/published in The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062",
year = "2017",
month = nov,
day = "6",
doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062",
language = "English",
volume = "849",
journal = "The Astrophysical Journal",
issn = "0004-637X",
publisher = "Institute of Physics Publishing",
number = "2",

}

### RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Inflows, Outflows, and a Giant Donor in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a? - Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of the 2015 Eruption

AU - Darnley, M. J.

AU - Hounsell, R.

AU - Godon, P.

AU - Perley, D. A.

AU - Henze, M.

AU - Kuin, N. P. M.

AU - Williams, B. F.

AU - Williams, S. C.

AU - Bode, M. F.

AU - Harman, D. J.

AU - Hornoch, K.

AU - Ness, J. -U.

AU - Ribeiro, V. A. R. M.

AU - Sion, E. M.

AU - Shafter, A. W.

AU - Shara, M. M.

N1 - This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication/published in The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062

PY - 2017/11/6

Y1 - 2017/11/6

N2 - The recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a experiences annual eruptions, contains a near-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf, and has the largest mass accretion rate in any nova system. In this paper, we present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/UVIS photometry of the late decline of the 2015 eruption. We couple these new data with archival HST observations of the quiescent system and Keck spectroscopy of the 2014 eruption. The late-time photometry reveals a rapid decline to a minimum luminosity state, before a possible recovery / re-brightening in the run-up to the next eruption. Comparison with accretion disk models supports the survival of the accretion disk during the eruptions, and uncovers a quiescent disk mass accretion rate of the order of $10^{-6}\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$, which may rise beyond $10^{-5}\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ during the super-soft source phase - both of which could be problematic for a number of well-established nova eruption models. Such large accretion rates, close to the Eddington limit, might be expected to be accompanied by additional mass loss from the disk through a wind and even collimated outflows. The archival HST observations, combined with the disk modeling, provide the first constraints on the mass donor; $L_\mathrm{donor}=103^{+12}_{-11}\,L_\odot$, $R_\mathrm{donor}=14.14^{+0.46}_{-0.47}\,R_\odot$, and $T_\mathrm{eff, donor}=4890\pm110$ K, which may be consistent with an irradiated M31 red-clump star. Such a donor would require a system orbital period $\gtrsim5$ days. Our updated analysis predicts that the M31N 2008-12a WD could reach the Chandrasekhar mass in

AB - The recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a experiences annual eruptions, contains a near-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf, and has the largest mass accretion rate in any nova system. In this paper, we present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/UVIS photometry of the late decline of the 2015 eruption. We couple these new data with archival HST observations of the quiescent system and Keck spectroscopy of the 2014 eruption. The late-time photometry reveals a rapid decline to a minimum luminosity state, before a possible recovery / re-brightening in the run-up to the next eruption. Comparison with accretion disk models supports the survival of the accretion disk during the eruptions, and uncovers a quiescent disk mass accretion rate of the order of $10^{-6}\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$, which may rise beyond $10^{-5}\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ during the super-soft source phase - both of which could be problematic for a number of well-established nova eruption models. Such large accretion rates, close to the Eddington limit, might be expected to be accompanied by additional mass loss from the disk through a wind and even collimated outflows. The archival HST observations, combined with the disk modeling, provide the first constraints on the mass donor; $L_\mathrm{donor}=103^{+12}_{-11}\,L_\odot$, $R_\mathrm{donor}=14.14^{+0.46}_{-0.47}\,R_\odot$, and $T_\mathrm{eff, donor}=4890\pm110$ K, which may be consistent with an irradiated M31 red-clump star. Such a donor would require a system orbital period $\gtrsim5$ days. Our updated analysis predicts that the M31N 2008-12a WD could reach the Chandrasekhar mass in

KW - astro-ph.HE

KW - astro-ph.SR

KW - accretion, accretion disks

KW - novae, cataclysmic variables

KW - galaxies: individual (M31)

KW - stars: individual (M31N 2008-12a)

KW - ultraviolet: stars

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aa9062

M3 - Journal article

VL - 849

JO - The Astrophysical Journal

JF - The Astrophysical Journal

SN - 0004-637X

IS - 2

M1 - 96

ER -