X-ray emissions from symbiotic novae.

X-ray observations of three symbiotic novae made with the Einstein Observatory by Allen (1981) have been further analyzed. The observed spectra are consistent with thermal bremsstrahlung from circumstellar hot gas of about 10 to the 7th K. It is proposed that this hot region is the shocked gas resulting from the fast wind from the white dwarf component of the symbiotic nova colliding with the slow wind from the M giant component. The expected decline in X-ray luminosity as the shocked region expands is consistent with the monotonic decreasing X-ray fluxes from the youngest (HM Sge) to the oldest (RR Tel) member of the symbiotic novae.