An energetic stellar outburst accompanied by circumstellar light echoes

Bond, Howard E.; Henden, A. A.; Levay, Zoltan G.; Panagia, N.; Sparks, W. B.; Starrfield, S.; Wagner, R. M.; Corradi, R. L. M.; Munari, U.

doi:10.1038/nature01508

Cited by 223 publications

(290 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Our derived A V is considerably higher than those reported for about the same time period by Kimeswenger et al (2002), who found A V ¼ 1:8 and 2.4, respectively. An A V this large is almost certainly due to extinction from dust near the source from the present outburst or perhaps from some of the dust evident in the HST light-echo images (Bond et al 2003). Indeed, the progenitor of V838 Mon was detected in 1983-1984 as IRAS 07015À0346.…”

Section: The Late Spectrum (2002 December-2003 January)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soker & Tylenda (2003) proposed a stellar merging event (see also Kato 2003), but this would seem untenable in view of the apparent recurrent ejection episodes evidenced by the HST imagery (Bond et al 2003). The similarities between V838 Mon's behavior and that of M31 RV (Rich et al 1989), V4334 Sgr (Evans, Smalley, & Kimeswenger 2002), and V4332 Sgr (Martini et al 1999) have been noted by several groups (Wagner et al 2002b;Kimeswenger et al 2002;Munari et al 2002b;Bond et al 2003). Retter & Marom (2003) suggest that the object's observed behavior could be explained by an expanding central red giant that enveloped three relatively massive planets in close orbits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At least one of the declines was probably due to dust formation (Crause et al 2003), and perhaps all of them were. In light of the complex structure indicated by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST ) images (Bond et al 2003), multiple ejection events over a period of hundreds or thousands of years may be part of V838 Mon's history. V383 Mon's behavior has so far eluded explanation or parallel.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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0.8–13 Micron Spectroscopy of V838 Monocerotis and a Model for Its Emission

Lynch

Rudy

Russell

et al. 2004

ApJ

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We report on the results of a number of infrared spectra (0.8-2.5, 2.1-4.6, and 3-14 m) of V838 Monocerotis, taken from a short time after discovery in 2002 January to about 14 months later, in early 2003. The spectrum evolved dramatically, changing from a quasi-photospheric stellar spectrum with weak atomic emission lines (some with P Cygni profiles) to one showing a wide range of deep absorption features indicative of a cool, extended atmosphere with a circumstellar dust shell. The early spectra showed lines of s-process elements, such as Sr ii and Ba i. The later spectra showed absorption by gaseous H 2 O, CO, AlO, TiO, SiO, SO 2 , OH, VO, and SH, as well as a complex of emission near 10 m reminiscent of silicate emission, with a central absorbing feature at 10:3 m. Thus, V838 Mon appears to be oxygen-rich. A simple, spherically symmetric model of the system involving a central star with a two-component expanding circumstellar shell is presented that is able to explain the major molecular features and spectral energy distribution in the object's late stages. The derived shell mass and distance are 0.04 M and 9.2 kpc, respectively.

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Section: The Late Spectrum (2002 December-2003 January)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

0.8–13 Micron Spectroscopy of V838 Monocerotis and a Model for Its Emission

Lynch

Rudy

Russell

et al. 2004

ApJ

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“…The powerful outburst of V838 Mon in 2002 (Munari et al 2002), accompanied by a spectacular light echo (Bond et al 2003), raised interest in a class of stellar eruptions named "red novae", "optical transients" or "V838 Mon type eruptions". These objects, which typically reach a maximum luminosity of ∼10 6 L , evolve to low effective temperatures and decline as Based on observations obtained with the 1.3-m Warsaw telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

V1309 Scorpii: merger of a contact binary

Tylenda

Hajduk

Kamiński

et al. 2011

A&A

435

611

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Context. Stellar mergers are expected to take place in numerous circumstences in the evolution of stellar systems. In particular, they are considered as a plausible origin of stellar eruptions of the V838 Mon type. V1309 Sco is the most recent eruption of this type in our Galaxy. The object was discovered in September 2008. Aims. Our aim is to investigate the nature of V1309 Sco. Methods. V1309 Sco has been photometrically observed in course of the OGLE project since August 2001. We analyse these observations in different ways. In particular, periodogram analyses were done to investigate the nature of the observed short-term variability of the progenitor. Results. We find that the progenitor of V1309 Sco was a contact binary with an orbital period of ∼1.4 day. This period was decreasing with time. The light curve of the binary was also evolving, indicating that the system evolved towards its merger. The violent phase of the merger, marked by the systematic brightenning of the object, began in March 2008, i.e. half a year before the outburst discovery. We also investigate the observations of V1309 Sco during the outburst and the decline and show that they can be fully accounted for within the merger hypothesis. Conclusions. For the first time in the literature we show from direct observations that contact binaries indeed end up by merging into a single object, as was suggested in numerous theoretical studies of these systems. Our study also shows that stellar mergers indeed result in eruptions of the V838 Mon type.

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“…Multi-epoch images of the echo show a diffuse nebula surrounding the star that exhibits a complex morphology (Bond et al 2003;Carlqvist 2005). Polarimetric observations of the echo were used to derive a geometric distance of 6 kpc (Sparks et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A molecular cloud within the light echo of V838 Monocerotis

Kamiński

Tylenda

Deguchi

2011

A&A

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Context. V838 Mon is an eruptive variable, which exploded in 2002. It displayed the most spectacular light echo ever observed. However, neither the origin of the reflecting matter nor the nature of the 2002 outburst have been firmly constrained. Aims. We investigate the nature of the CO radio emission detected in the field of the light echo. In particular, we explore its connection to the echoing dust around V838 Mon. Methods. We observed the echo region in multiple CO rotational transitions. We present and analyse maps of the region obtained in the 12 CO(1-0) and (3-2) lines. In addition, deep spectra at several positions were acquired in 12 CO(1-0), (2-1), (3-2), and 13 CO(1-0), (2-1). Radiative transfer modelling of line intensities is performed for chosen positions to constrain the kinetic temperatures and densities. We derive global parameters (e.g. mass, distance, total column density) of the emitting cloud. Results. We found that a compact molecular cloud is located within the echo region. The molecular emission is physically connected to the dusty environment seen in the optical echo and they both belong to the same translucent cloud. The interstellar nature of the cloud is confirmed by its high mass of 90-150 M . We propose that the cloud consists of material remaining after the formation of the cluster to which V838 Mon belongs. This indicates that the eruptive star has a young age (3-10 Myr).

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An energetic stellar outburst accompanied by circumstellar light echoes

Cited by 223 publications

References 18 publications

0.8–13 Micron Spectroscopy of V838 Monocerotis and a Model for Its Emission

0.8–13 Micron Spectroscopy of V838 Monocerotis and a Model for Its Emission

V1309 Scorpii: merger of a contact binary

A molecular cloud within the light echo of V838 Monocerotis

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