2004/02/12 by Federico Boschi, U. Munari, Ulisse Munari
Physics and Astronomy · #Absolute magnitude #Andromeda Galaxy #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Bulge #Galaxy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Metallicity #Physics #Spiral galaxy #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Supergiant #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20035716
published as Astron.Astrophys. 418 (2004) 869-875 · A&A in press. Table 3 available only in electronic form from CDS or http://ulisse.pd.astro.it/M31-RV.html
arxiv created 2004/02/12 · openalex publication_date 2004/04/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The photometric evolution of M 31-RV has been investigated on 1447 plates of the Andromeda galaxy obtained over half a century with the Asiago telescopes. M 31-RV is a gigantic stellar explosion that occurred during 1988 in the Bulge of M 31 and that was characterized by the appearance for a few months of an M supergiant reaching . The 1988 outburst has been positively detected on Asiago plates, and it has been the only such event recorded over the period covered by the plates (1942-1993). In particular, an alleged previous outburst in 1967 is excluded by the more numerous and deeper Asiago plates, with relevant implication for the interpretative models of this unique event. We outline a close analogy in spectral and photometric evolution with those of V838 Mon which exploded in our Galaxy in 2002. The analogy is found to extend also to the closely similar absolute magnitude at the time of the sudden drop in photospheric temperature that both M 31-RV and V838 Mon exhibited. These similarities, in spite of the greatly differing metallicity, age and mass of the two objects, suggest that the same, universal and not yet identified process was at work in both cases.