Swift Observations of Novae

Abstract

Abstract. The rapid response capability of Swift, together with the daily planning of its observing schedule, make it an ideal mission for following novae in the X-ray and UV bands. A number of both classical and recurrent novae have been extensively monitored throughout their supersoft phase. We report findings from these observations, including the high-amplitude flux variation often seen at the start of the supersoft emission, the optical plateau sometimes seen for recurrent novae, the differing relationships between the X-ray and UV variability, and the turn-on and turn-off times of the supersoft emission for the Swift sample of novae.

Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory studies of supersoft novae

“…As has been previously discussed (e.g., Page, 2013;Schwarz et al, 2011;Osborne et al, 2011a), these large scale changes in flux are at least partly due to variable visibility of the hot WD. Following a nova explosion, material will be expelled from the WD surface.…”