Nova V2362 Cygni (Nova Cygni 2006): Spitzer, Swift, and Ground-Based Spectral Evolution

• Published in: The Astronomical journal 2008-11, Vol.136 (5), p.1815-1827
• Main Authors: Lynch, David K, Woodward, Charles E, Gehrz, Robert, Helton, L. Andrew, Rudy, Richard J, Russell, Ray W, Pearson, Richard, Venturini, Catherine C, Mazuk, S, Rayner, John, Ness, Jan-Uwe, Starrfield, Sumner, Wagner, R. Mark, Osborne, Julian P, Page, Kim, Puetter, Richard C, Perry, R. Brad, Schwarz, Greg, Vanlandingham, Karen, Black, John, Bode, Michael, Evans, Aneurin, Geballe, Thomas, Greenhouse, Matthew, Hauschildt, Peter, Krautter, Joachim, Liller, William, Lyke, James, Truran, Jim, Kerr, T, Eyres, S. P. S, Shore, Steven N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: accretion; accretion disks; cataclysmic variables; line: profiles; novae; outflows; stars: winds
• ISSN: 1538-3881; 0004-6256; 1538-3881
• DOI: 10.1088/0004-6256/136/5/1815

Nova V2362 Cygni has undergone a number of very unusual changes. Ground-based spectroscopy initially revealed a normal sequence of events: the object faded and its near-infrared emission lines gradually shifted to higher excitation conditions until about day 100 when the optical fading reversed and the object slowly brightened. This was accompanied by a rise in the Swift X-ray telescope flux and a sudden shift in excitation of the visible and IR spectrum back to low levels. The new lower excitation spectrum revealed broad line widths and many P-Cygni profiles, all indicative of the ejection of a second shell. Eventually, dust formed, the X-ray brightness—apparently unaffected by dust formation—peaked and then declined, and the object faded at all wavelengths. The Spitzer dust spectra revealed a number of solid-state emission features that, at this time, are not identified.