NQ Vulpeculae also known as Nova Vulpeculae 1976, was a nova that appeared in the constellation Vulpecula in 1976. It was discovered visually at 18:20 UT on October 21, 1976 by English amateur astronomer George Alcock. Its apparent magnitude at the time of discovery was 6.5 [5] It reached its maximum brightness of magnitude 6.0 thirteen days after its discovery, at which point it may have been faintly visible to the naked eye.[6][2] A few days after maximum brightness, it had faded to magnitude 8.3.[7]
 | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Vulpecula |
| Right ascension | 19h 29m 14.752s[1] |
| Declination | +20° 27′ 59.57″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 6.0 Max. 18.5 Min.[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Variable type | Classical nova |
| Astrometry | |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: 2.593(76)[1] mas/yr Dec.: −3.138(88)[1] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 0.8395 ± 0.0737 mas[1] |
| Distance | 1080+169 −85[3] pc |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
NQ Vulpeculae faded by 3 magnitudes from peak brightness in 65 days, which makes it a "moderate speed" nova. It was one of the first novae to be closely monitored near peak brightness in the infrared.[8] The visual light curve went through a local minimum in January 1977 (resulting in its classification as a DQ Herculis-type nova[9]), and at the same time near infrared (3.5 micron) emission peaked, signalling the formation of a dust shell around the nova.[10] The IRAS satellite was launched a little more than six years after NQ Vulpeculae's outburst, and IRAS detected the nova in the 25, 60 and 100 micron bands.[11]
4.9 GHz radio emission was detected in 1984 at the Very Large Array.[12]
All novae are binary stars, with a "donor" star orbiting a white dwarf. The two stars are so close to each other that material is transferred from the donor to the white dwarf. Modelling by Shara et al. in 2018 gave an estimated mass for the white dwarf of 1.10 M☉, and a mass transfer rate of 1.5 × 10−9 M☉ yr−1.[13] The orbital period of NQ Vulpeculae is 0.146501 days, or approximately 3 hours and 31 minutes.[14]
In 1993 a small nearly circular nova remnant was imaged in Hα line emission with the William Herschel Telescope. On the raw image its radius was about 4 arc seconds, but deconvolution resulted in a ring-like image with a radius of 1.5 arc seconds, and a width of 0.5 arc seconds.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 649: A1. arXiv:2012.01533. Bibcode:2021A&A...649A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657. S2CID 227254300. (Erratum: doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657e). Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
- ^ a b Duerbeck, Hilmar W. (March 1987). "A Reference Catalogue and Atlas of Galactic Novae". Space Science Reviews. 45 (1–2): 1–14. Bibcode:1987SSRv...45....1D. doi:10.1007/BF00187826. S2CID 115854775. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ a b Schaefer, Bradley E. (2018). "The distances to Novae as seen by Gaia". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 481 (3): 3033–3051. arXiv:1809.00180. Bibcode:2018MNRAS.481.3033S. doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2388. S2CID 118925493.
- ^ "NQ Vulpeculae". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
- ^ Milbourn, S. W.; et al. (October 22, 1976). "Circular No. 2997". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 4023. Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts: International Astronomical Union: 1. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- ^ Cordoni, J.P.; Gleizes, F.; Jasniewicz, G. (March 1977). "Spectra and light curve of Nova Vulpeculae 1976". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 55: 307–309. Bibcode:1977A&A....55..307C. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "NQ Vul (Nova Vulpeculae 1976)". AAVSO. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ Albinson, J.S.; Evans, A. (October 1989). "Millimetre CO observation of the old nova NQ Vul". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 240: 47P–53. Bibcode:1989MNRAS.240P..47A. doi:10.1093/mnras/240.1.47P.
- ^ a b Slavin, A.J. (September 1995). "A deep optical imaging study of the nebular remnants of classical novae". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 276 (2): 353–371. Bibcode:1995MNRAS.276..353S. doi:10.1093/mnras/276.2.353.
- ^ Ney, E.P.; Hatfield, B.F. (February 1978). "The isothermal dust condensation of Nova Vulpeculae 1976". Astrophysical Journal. 219: L111–L115. Bibcode:1978ApJ...219L.111N. doi:10.1086/182618.
- ^ Harrison, T.E.; Gehrz, R.D. (September 1988). "A Survey of IRAS Data on 41 Classical Novae". The Astronomical Journal. 96: 1001. Bibcode:1988AJ.....96.1001H. doi:10.1086/114860. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ Bode, M.F.; Seaquist, E.R.; Evans, A. (September 1987). "Radio survey of classical novae". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 228 (2): 217–227. Bibcode:1987MNRAS.228..217B. doi:10.1093/mnras/228.2.217.
- ^ Shara, Michael M.; Prialnik, Dina; Hillman, Yael; Kovetz, Attay (June 2018). "The Masses and Accretion Rates of White Dwarfs in Classical and Recurrent Novae". The Astrophysical Journal. 860 (2): 110. arXiv:1804.06880. Bibcode:2018ApJ...860..110S. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aabfbd. S2CID 55851634.
- ^ Schaefer, Bradley E. (2021). "Discovery of 13 New Orbital Periods for Classical Novae". Research Notes of the AAS. 5 (6): 150. arXiv:2106.13907. Bibcode:2021RNAAS...5..150S. doi:10.3847/2515-5172/ac0d5b. S2CID 235632263.
- Martin PG; Maza J; Angel JR (1977). "The polarisation of nova Vulpeculae". Nature. 265 (5592): 314–5. Bibcode:1977Natur.265..314M. doi:10.1038/265314a0. S2CID 4174860.
- Hughes DW (1977). "Nova sagittae 1977 and vulpeculae 1976". Nature. 265 (5594): 500. Bibcode:1977Natur.265..500H. doi:10.1038/265500a0. S2CID 12660687.
- Cruise AM (1977). "Upper limits to X-ray emission from nova Vulpeculae 1976". Nature. 267 (5613): 685–6. Bibcode:1977Natur.267..685C. doi:10.1038/267685a0. S2CID 4295919.