Maxwell, MP, Rushton, MT, Darnley, MJ, Worters, HL, Bode, MF, Evans, A, Eyres, SPS, Kouwenhoven, MBN, Walter, FM and Hassall, BJM (2012) The helium abundance in the ejecta of U Scorpii. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 448 (4). 3414 -3415. ISSN 1365-2966

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Abstract

U Scorpii (U Sco) is a recurrent nova which has been observed in outburst on 10 occasions, most recently in 2010. We present near-infrared (near-IR) and optical spectroscopy of the 2010 outburst of U Sco. The reddening of U Sco is found to be E(B − V) = 0.14 ± 0.12, consistent with previous determinations, from simultaneous optical and near-IR observations. The spectra show the evolution of the linewidths and profiles to be consistent with previous outbursts. Velocities are found to be up to 14 000 km s−1 in broad components and up to 1800 km s−1 in narrow-line components, which become visible around day 8 due to changes in the optical depth. From the spectra we derive a helium abundance of N(He)/N(H) = 0.073 ± 0.031 from the most reliable lines available; this is lower than most other estimates and indicates that the secondary is not helium-rich, as previous studies have suggested.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Uncontrolled Keywords: circumstellar matter, infrared, stars
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy > QB460 Astrophysics
Divisions: Faculty of Natural Sciences > School of Physical and Geographical Sciences
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Symplectic
Date Deposited: 14 Jul 2015 10:51
Last Modified: 06 Nov 2017 11:37
URI: https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/id/eprint/711

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