Recently discovered nova investigated by astronomers

Astronomers from the Liverpool John Moores College have carried out photometric and spectroscopic observations of a just lately found nova, often known as AT 2023prq. Outcomes of the observational marketing campaign, published within the November challenge of the Analysis Notes of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), shed extra gentle on the character of this nova.

A nova is a star experiencing a sudden enhance in brightness and slowly returning to its authentic state, a course of that would final many months. Such an outburst, which releases an immense quantity of vitality, is the results of the accretion course of in a detailed binary system containing a white dwarf and its companion. Finding out novae is essential in advancing our information about basic astrophysical processes, together with stellar evolution.

AT 2023prq (different designation ZTF23aaxzvrr) was detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on August 15, 2023, within the halo of the Andromeda galaxy (or Messier 31, M31). It had an r′-band magnitude of 17.13 and shortly after its detection, follow-up observations of this nova commenced in an effort to get extra insights into its properties.

Astronomers Michael Healy-Kalesh and Daniel Perley from the Liverpool John Moores College in Liverpool, UK, had been among the many first to look at AT 2023prq after it was recognized. They used the Liverpool Telescope (LT) and numerous different ground-based services to watch the nova till the top of August 2023.

The observations performed by Healy-Kalesh and Perley discovered that AT 2023prq had an absolute peak magnitude of about -7.6. Based mostly on the collected information, the projected distance of this nova to the Andromeda galaxy was measured to be roughly 150,000 light years.

Based on the research, AT 2023prq has a really brief decline time—about 3.4 days. This, along with its low absolute magnitude, means that this object could belong to the “faint-and-fast” class of novae.

Moreover, spectroscopic observations of AT 2023prq detected helium emission strains within the spectra of this nova, and comparatively excessive ejecta velocities from the hydrogen-alpha emission line. These findings point out that AT 2023prq, in contrast to different spectroscopically categorised halo novae, belongs to the helium/nitrogen spectroscopic class.

Summing up the outcomes, the authors of the paper concluded that AT 2023prq is a classical nova. In classical novae, the hydrogen-rich matter accreted from the donor ultimately reaches a vital strain and undergoes a thermonuclear runaway on the accreted layer’s base. Throughout an eruption, these novae can attain absolute magnitudes as much as -10.5.

The researchers famous that AT 2023prq is “hostless”—due to this fact situated at a comparatively massive distance from the Andromeda galaxy. Based on them, the observations affirm that AT 2023prq belongs to the halo of this galaxy and is likely one of the most distant novae from its host up to now detected.

© 2023 Science X Community