2003/10/14 by Mariko Kato, Izumi Hachisu · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/380597
published as Astrophys.J. 598 (2003) L107-L110 · 6 pages including 3 figures, to appear in ApJL
arxiv created 2003/10/14 · openalex publication_date 2003/11/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The 2000 outburst of V445 Puppis shows unique properties, such as the absence of hydrogen, the enrichment of helium and carbon, and the slow development of the light curve with a small amplitude that does not resemble any classical novae. This object has been suggested to be the first example of a helium nova. We calculate theoretical light curves of helium novae and reproduce the observational light curve of V445 Pup. Modeling indicates a very massive white dwarf (WD), more massive than 1.3 M ☉ . The companion star is possibly either a helium star or a helium-rich main-sequence star. We estimate the ignition mass as several times 10 -5 M ☉ , the corresponding helium accretion rate as several times 10 -7 M ☉ yr -1 , and the recurrence period as several tens of years. These values suggest that the WD is growing in mass and ends up either a Type Ia supernova or an accretion-induced collapse to a neutron star.