2008/06/18 by M. Hernanz, J. José · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Chandrasekhar limit #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Nova (rocket) #Supernova #Thermonuclear fusion #White dwarf #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.newar.2008.06.017
10 pages, 2 figures, to be published in New Astronomy Reviews
openalex publication_date 2008/06/18 · arxiv created 2008/07/21 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The recurrent nova RS Oph experienced an outburst in 2006, 21 years after its previous explosion in 1985, as expected. It was observed at almost all wavelengths, and important information about its properties is still being extracted. We present theoretical models of the explosion of this fascinating object, which indicate that the mass of the accreting white dwarf should be very close to the Chandrasekhar mass, to allow for such a short recurrence period. In addition, since models suggest that this nova ejects less mass than it accretes, it is an excellent candidate for a thermonuclear supernova explosion, in about 105-107 years from now. We also analyze the emission of soft gamma-rays by RS Oph detected with the BAT instrument onboard Swift, and with the PCA onboard RXTE. We rule out that this emission has its origin in radioactive decays in the expanding nova envelope.