Engineering topics

Zurek, David

Publications and source records attributed to Zurek, David.

9 records

DOE OSTI2017

A Hubble Space Telescope survey for novae in M87 – III. Are novae good standard candles 15 d after maximum brightness?

Ten weeks of daily imaging of the giant elliptical galaxy M87 with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has yielded 41 nova light curves of unprecedented quality for extragalactic cataclysmic variables. We have recently used these light curves to demonstrate that the observational scatter in the so-called maximum-magnitude rate of decline (MMRD) relation for classical novae is so large as to render the nova-MMRD useless as a standard candle. Here in this paper, we demonstrate that a modified Buscombe–de Vaucouleurs hypothesis, namely that novae with decline times t2 > 10 d converge to nearly the same absolute magnitude about two weeks after maximum light in a giant elliptical galaxy, is supported by our M87 nova data. For 13 novae with daily sampled light curves, well determined times of maximum light in both the F606W and F814W filters, and decline times t 2 > 10 d we find that M87 novae display M606W,15 = -6.37 ± 0.46 and M814W,15 = -6.11 ± 0.43. If very fast novae with decline times t 2 < 10 d are excluded, the distances to novae in elliptical galaxies with stellar binary populations similar to those of M87 should be determinable with 1σ accuracies of ± 20 percent with the above calibrations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

On the Origin of Sub-subgiant Stars. I. Demographics

Sub-subgiants are stars that are observed to be redder than normal main-sequence stars and fainter than normal subgiant (and giant) stars in an optical color–magnitude diagram (CMD). The red straggler stars, which lie redward of the red giant branch, may be related and are often grouped together with the sub-subgiants in the literature. These stars defy our standard theory of single-star evolution and are important tests for binary evolution and stellar collision models. In total, we identify 65 sub-subgiants (SSG) and red stragglers (RS) in 16 open and globular star clusters from the literature; 50 of these, including 43 sub-subgiants, pass our strict membership selection criteria (though the remaining sources may also be cluster members). In addition to their unique location on the CMD, we find that at least 58% (25/43) of sub-subgiants in this sample are X-ray sources with typical 0.5–2.5 keV luminosities of order 10{sup 30}–10{sup 31} erg s{sup −1}. Their X-ray luminosities and optical–to–X-ray flux ratios are similar to those of RS CVn active binaries. At least 65% (28/43) of the sub-subgiants in our sample are variables, 21 of which are known to be radial-velocity binaries. Typical variability periods are ≲15 days. At least 33% (14/43) of the sub-subgiants are H α emitters. These observational demographics provide strong evidence that binarity is important for sub-subgiant formation. Finally, we find that the number of sub-subgiants per unit mass increases toward lower-mass clusters, such that the open clusters in our sample have the highest specific frequencies of sub-subgiants.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

A Hubble Space Telescope Survey for Novae in M87. II. Snuffing out the Maximum Magnitude–Rate of Decline Relation for Novae as a Non-standard Candle, and a Prediction of the Existence of Ultrafast Novae

The extensive grid of numerical simulations of nova eruptions from the work of Yaron et al. first predicted that some classical novae might significantly deviate from the Maximum Magnitude–Rate of Decline (MMRD) relation, which purports to characterize novae as standard candles. Kasliwal et al. have announced the observational detection of a new class of faint, fast classical novae in the Andromeda galaxy. These objects deviate strongly from the MMRD relationship, as predicted by Yaron et al. Recently, Shara et al. reported the first detections of faint, fast novae in M87. These previously overlooked objects are as common in the giant elliptical galaxy M87 as they are in the giant spiral M31; they comprise about 40% of all classical nova eruptions and greatly increase the observational scatter in the MMRD relation. We use the extensive grid of the nova simulations of Yaron et al. to identify the underlying causes of the existence of faint, fast novae. These are systems that have accreted, and can thus eject, only very low-mass envelopes, of the order of 10{sup −7}–10{sup −8} M {sub ⊙}, on massive white dwarfs. Such binaries include, but are not limited to, the recurrent novae. These same models predict the existence of ultrafast novae that display decline times, t {sub 2,} to be as short as five hours. We outline a strategy for their future detection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

A Hubble Space Telescope survey for novae in M87.I. light and color curves, spatial distributions, and the nova rate

The Hubble Space Telescope has imaged the central part of M87 over a 10 week span, leading to the discovery of 32 classical novae (CNe) and nine fainter, likely very slow, and/or symbiotic novae. In this first paper of a series, we present the M87 nova finder charts, and the light and color curves of the novae. We demonstrate that the rise and decline times, and the colors of M87 novae are uncorrelated with each other and with position in the galaxy. The spatial distribution of the M87 novae follows the light of the galaxy, suggesting that novae accreted by M87 during cannibalistic episodes are well-mixed. Conservatively using only the 32 brightest CNe we derive a nova rate for M87: ${363}_{-45}^{+33}$ novae yr –1 . We also derive the luminosity-specific classical nova rate for this galaxy, which is ${7.88}_{-2.6}^{+2.3}\,{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}/{10}^{10}\,{L}_{\odot }{,}_{K}$. Both rates are 3–4 times higher than those reported for M87 in the past, and similarly higher than those reported for all other galaxies. As a result, we suggest that most previous ground-based surveys for novae in external galaxies, including M87, miss most faint, fast novae, and almost all slow novae near the centers of galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Late-time photometry of type IA supernova SN 2012cg reveals the radioactive decay of {sup 57}Co

Seitenzahl et al. have predicted that roughly three years after its explosion, the light we receive from a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) will come mostly from reprocessing of electrons and X-rays emitted by the radioactive decay chain {sup 57}Co → {sup 57}Fe, instead of positrons from the decay chain {sup 56}Co → {sup 56}Fe that dominates the SN light at earlier times. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, we followed the light curve of the SN Ia SN 2012cg out to 1055 days after maximum light. Our measurements are consistent with the light curves predicted by the contribution of energy from the reprocessing of electrons and X-rays emitted by the decay of {sup 57}Co, offering evidence that {sup 57}Co is produced in SN Ia explosions. However, the data are also consistent with a light echo ∼14 mag fainter than SN 2012cg at peak. Assuming no light-echo contamination, the mass ratio of {sup 57}Ni and {sup 56}Ni produced by the explosion, a strong constraint on any SN Ia explosion models, is 0.043{sub −0.011}{sup +0.012}, roughly twice Solar. In the context of current explosion models, this value favors a progenitor white dwarf with a mass near the Chandrasekhar limit.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

HST images flash ionization of old ejecta by the 2011 eruption of recurrent Nova T PYXIDIS

T Pyxidis is the only recurrent nova known to be surrounded by knots of material ejected in previous outbursts. Following the eruption that began on 2011 April 14.29, we obtained seven epochs (from 4 to 383 days after eruption) of Hubble Space Telescope narrowband Hα images of T Pyx. The ionizing flash of radiation from the nova event had no discernible effect on the surrounding ejecta until at least 55 days after the eruption began. Photoionization of hydrogen located north and south of the central star was seen 132 days after the beginning of the eruption. That photoionized hydrogen recombined in the following 51 days, allowing us to determine a hydrogen atom density of at least 7×10{sup 5} cm{sup −3}—at least an order of magnitude denser than the previously detected, unresolved [N ii] knots surrounding T Pyx. Material to the northwest and southeast was photoionized, and became bright between 132 and 183 days after the eruption began. Ninety-nine days later that northwest and southeast hydrogen had recombined. Both then (282 days after outburst) and 101 days later, we detected almost no trace of hydrogen emission around T Pyx. We determine that there is a large reservoir of previously unseen, cold diffuse hydrogen overlapping the previously detected, [N ii]-emitting knots of T Pyx ejecta. The mass of this newly detected hydrogen is model-dependent, but is is probably an order of magnitude larger than that of the [N ii] knots. We also determine that there is no significant reservoir of undetected hydrogen-rich ejecta, with density comparable to the flash-ionized ejecta we have detected, from the outer boundaries of the previously detected ejecta out to about twice that distance. The lack of distant ejecta is consistent with the Schaefer et al. scenario for T Pyx, in which the star underwent its first eruption within five years of 1866 after many millennia of quiescence, followed by the six observed recurrent nova eruptions since 1890. The lack of distant ejecta, demonstrated by our observations, is not consistent with scenarios in which T Pyx has been erupting continuously as a recurrent nova for many centuries or millennia.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Characterizing Wolf-Rayet stars in the near- and mid-infrared

We present refined color-color selection criteria for identifying Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars using available mid-infrared (MIR) photometry from WISE in combination with near-infrared (NIR) photometry from the Two Micron All Sky Survey. Using a sample of spectrally classified objects, we find that WR stars are well distinguished from the field stellar population in the (W1 – W2) versus (J – K{sub s} ) color-color diagram, and further distinguished from other emission line objects such as planetary nebulae, Be, and cataclysmic variable stars using a combination of NIR and MIR color constraints. As proof of concept we applied the color constraints to a photometric sample in the Galactic plane, located WR star candidates, and present five new spectrally confirmed and classified WC (1) and WN (4) stars. Analysis of the 0.8-5.0 μm spectral data for a subset of known, bright WC and WN stars shows that emission lines (primarily He I) extend into the 3.0-5.0 μm spectral region, although their strength is greatly diminished compared to the 0.8-2.5 μm region. The WR population stands out relative to background field stars at NIR and MIR colors due to an excess continuum contribution, likely caused by free-free scattering in dense winds. Mean photometric properties of known WRs are presented and imply that reddened late-type WN and WC sources are easier to detect than earlier-type sources at larger Galactic radii. WISE W3 and W4 images of 10 WR stars show evidence of circumstellar shells linked to mass ejections from strong stellar winds.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

The vast population of Wolf-Rayet and red supergiant stars in M101. I. Motivation and first results

Assembling a catalog of at least 10,000 Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars is an essential step in proving (or disproving) that these stars are the progenitors of Type Ib and Type Ic supernovae. To this end, we have used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to carry out a deep, He II optical narrowband imaging survey of the ScI spiral galaxy M101. Almost the entire galaxy was imaged with the unprecedented depth and resolution that only the HST affords. Differenced with archival broadband images, the narrowband images allow us to detect much of the W-R star population of M101. We describe the extent of the survey and our images, as well as our data reduction procedures. A detailed broadband-narrowband imaging study of a field east of the center of M101, containing the giant star-forming region NGC 5462, demonstrates our completeness limits, how we find W-R candidates, their properties and spatial distribution, and how we rule out most contaminants. We use the broadband images to locate luminous red supergiant (RSG) candidates. The spatial distributions of the W-R and RSG stars near NGC 5462 are strikingly different. W-R stars dominate the complex core, while RSGs dominate the complex halo. Future papers in this series will describe and catalog more than a thousand W-R and RSG candidates that are detectable in our images, as well as spectra of many of those candidates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

AT Cnc: A SECOND DWARF NOVA WITH A CLASSICAL NOVA SHELL

We are systematically surveying all known and suspected Z Cam-type dwarf novae for classical nova shells. This survey is motivated by the discovery of the largest known classical nova shell, which surrounds the archetypal dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis. The Z Cam shell demonstrates that at least some dwarf novae must have undergone classical nova eruptions in the past, and that at least some classical novae become dwarf novae long after their nova thermonuclear outbursts, in accord with the hibernation scenario of cataclysmic binaries. Here we report the detection of a fragmented 'shell', 3 arcmin in diameter, surrounding the dwarf nova AT Cancri. This second discovery demonstrates that nova shells surrounding Z Cam-type dwarf novae cannot be very rare. The shell geometry is suggestive of bipolar, conical ejection seen nearly pole-on. A spectrum of the brightest AT Cnc shell knot is similar to that of the ejecta of the classical nova GK Per, and of Z Cam, dominated by [N II] emission. Galaxy Evolution Explorer FUV imagery reveals a similar-sized, FUV-emitting shell. We determine a distance of 460 pc to AT Cnc, and an upper limit to its ejecta mass of {approx}5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} M {sub Sun }, typical of classical novae.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗