The expanding dusty bipolar nebula around the nova V1280 Scorpi
Abstract
Context. The fast temporal evolution of the ejecta morphology of novae can be considered as an important test bench for studying the shaping of many kinds of nebulae.
Aims: We performed multi-epoch high-spatial resolution observations of the circumstellar dusty environment of
Methods: We observed
Results: We report the discovery of a dusty hourglass-shaped bipolar nebula. The apparent size of the nebula increased from 0.30'' × 0.17'' in July 2009 to 0.64'' × 0.42'' in July 2011. The aspect ratio suggests that the source is seen at high inclination. The central source shines efficiently in the K band and represents more than 56 ± 5% of the total flux in 2009, and 87 ± 6% in 2011. A mean expansion rate of 0.39 ± 0.03 milliarcsec per day is inferred from the VISIR observations in the direction of the major axis, which represents a projected upper limit. Assuming that the dust shell expands in that direction as fast as the low-excitation slow ejecta detected in spectroscopy, this yields a lower limit distance to V1280 Sco of ~1 kpc; however, the systematic errors remain large due to the complex shape and velocity field of the dusty ejecta. The dust seems to reside essentially in the polar caps and no infrared flux is detected in the equatorial regions in the latest dataset. This may imply that the mass-loss was dominantly polar. Conclusions.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- September 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1051/0004-6361/201219825
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1207.5301
- Bibcode:
- 2012A&A...545A..63C
- Keywords:
-
- techniques: high angular resolution;
- novae;
- cataclysmic variables;
- stars: individual: V1280 Scorpi;
- stars: mass-loss;
- circumstellar matter;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Astronomy and Astrophysics (2012) 1