2000/11/15 by C. Knigge, Knigge, C., A. R. King +3
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #High-pressure geophysics and materials #X-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0011304
accepted for publication in A&A Letters; 5 pages; no figures
arxiv created 2000/11/15 · openalex publication_date 2000/11/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We show that the extremely high luminosity of the short-period recurrent nova T Pyx in quiescence can be understood if this system is a wind-driven supersoft x-ray source (SSS). In this scenario, a strong, radiation-induced wind is excited from the secondary star and accelerates the binary evolution. The accretion rate is therefore much higher than in an ordinary cataclysmic binary at the same orbital period, as is the luminosity of the white dwarf primary. In the steady state, the enhanced luminosity is just sufficient to maintain the wind from the secondary. The accretion rate and luminosity predicted by the wind-driven model for T Pyx are in good agreement with the observational evidence. X-ray observations with Chandra or XMM may be able to confirm T Pyx's status as a SSS. T Pyx's lifetime in the wind-driven state is on the order of a million years. Its ultimate fate is not certain, but the system may very well end up destroying itself, either via the complete evaporation of the secondary star, or in a Type Ia supernova if the white dwarf reaches the Chandrasekhar limit. Thus either the primary, the secondary, or both may currently be committing assisted stellar suicide.