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arXiv · 1809.06801

Unravelling the infrared transient VVV-WIT-06: the case for an origin in a classical nova

Dipankar P. K. Banerjee·Eric Y. Hsiao·Tiara Diamond·Lluís Galbany·Nidia Morrell·Dante Minniti·Hanindyo Kuncarayakti·Seppo Mattila·Jussi Harmanen
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Abstract

The enigmatic near-infrared transient VVV-WIT-06 underwent a large amplitude eruption of unclear origin in July 2013. Based on its lightcurve properties and late-time post-outburst spectra various possibilities have been proposed in the literature for the origin of the object viz. a Type I supernova, a classical nova (CN) and a violent stellar merger event. We show that out of these possibilities, an origin in a CN outburst convincingly explains the observed properties of VVV-WIT-06. We estimate that the absolute K band magnitude of the nova at maximum was M$_K$ = -8.2 $\pm$ 0.5, its distance d = 13.35 $\pm$ 2.18 kpc and the extinction A$_V$ = 15.0 $\pm$ 0.55 magnitudes.

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Dipankar P. K. Banerjee, Eric Y. Hsiao, Tiara Diamond, Lluís Galbany, Nidia Morrell, Dante Minniti, Hanindyo Kuncarayakti, Seppo Mattila, Jussi Harmanen. 2018-09-18. Unravelling the infrared transient VVV-WIT-06: the case for an origin in a classical nova. https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.06801

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