arXiv · astro-ph/0204354
Recurrent Nova IM Normae
Abstract
We detected the second historical outburst of the 1920 nova IM Nor. Accurate astrometry of the outbursting object revealed the true quiescent counterpart having a magnitude of R=17.0 mag and B=18.0 mag. We show that the quiescent counterpart shows a noticeable variation. From the comparison of light curves and spectroscopic signatures, we propose that IM Nor and CI Aql comprise a new class of recurrent novae bearing some characteristics similar to those of classical novae. We interpret that the noticeable quiescent variation can be a result of either high orbital inclination, which may be also responsible for the low quiescent brightness, or the presence of high/low states. If the second possibility is confirmed by future observations, IM Nor becomes the first recurrent nova showing state changes in quiescence. Such state changes may provide a missing link between recurrent novae and supersoft X-ray sources.
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T. Kato, H. Yamaoka, W. Liller, B. Monard. 2002-04-20. Recurrent Nova IM Normae. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%3A20020985
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