arXiv subjects

J. L. Sokoloski

Publications and source records attributed to J. L. Sokoloski.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Increasing activity in T CrB suggests nova eruption is impending

Estimates of the accretion rate in symbiotic recurrent novae (RNe) often fall short of theoretical expectations by orders of magnitude. This apparent discrepancy can be resolved if the accumulation of mass by the white dwarf (WD) is highly sporadic, and most observations are performed during low states. Here we use a reanalysis of archival data from the Digital Access to a Sky Century @Harvard (DASCH) survey to argue that the most recent nova eruption in symbiotic RN T CrB, in 1946, occurred during -- and was therefore triggered by -- a transient accretion high state. Based on similarities in the optical light curve around 1946 and the time of the prior eruption, in 1866, we suggest that the WD in T CrB accumulates most of the fuel needed to ignite the thermonuclear runaways (TNRs) during accretion high states. A natural origin for such states is dwarf-nova like accretion-disk instabilities, which are expected in the presumably large disks in symbiotic binaries. The timing of the TNRs in symbiotic RNe could thus be set by the stability properties of their accretion disks. T CrB is in the midst of an accretion high state like the ones we posit led to the past two nova eruptions. Combined with the approach of the time at which a TNR would be expected based on the 80-year interval between the prior two novae ($2026 \pm$3), the current accretion high state increases the likelihood of a TNR occurring in T CrB in the next few years.

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arXiv2019

Regulation of accretion by its outflow in a symbiotic star: the 2016 outflow fast state of MWC 560

How are accretion discs affected by their outflows? To address this question for white dwarfs accreting from cool giants, we performed optical, radio, X-ray, and ultraviolet observations of the outflow-driving symbiotic star MWC 560 (=V694 Mon) during its 2016 optical high state. We tracked multi-wavelength changes that signalled an abrupt increase in outflow power at the initiation of a months-long outflow fast state, just as the optical flux peaked: (1) an abrupt doubling of Balmer absorption velocities; (2) the onset of a $20$ $μ$Jy/month increase in radio flux; and (3) an order-of-magnitude increase in soft X-ray flux. Juxtaposing to prior X-ray observations and their coeval optical spectra, we infer that both high-velocity and low-velocity optical outflow components must be simultaneously present to yield a large soft X-ray flux, which may originate in shocks where these fast and slow absorbers collide. Our optical and ultraviolet spectra indicate that the broad absorption-line gas was fast, stable, and dense ($\gtrsim10^{6.5}$ cm$^{-3}$) throughout the 2016 outflow fast state, steadily feeding a lower-density ($\lesssim10^{5.5}$ cm$^{-3}$) region of radio-emitting gas. Persistent optical and ultraviolet flickering indicate that the accretion disc remained intact. The stability of these properties in 2016 contrasts to their instability during MWC 560's 1990 outburst, even though the disc reached a similar accretion rate. We propose that the self-regulatory effect of a steady fast outflow from the disc in 2016 prevented a catastrophic ejection of the inner disc. This behaviour in a symbiotic binary resembles disc/outflow relationships governing accretion state changes in X-ray binaries.

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arXiv2019

Dissecting a disk-instability outburst in a symbiotic star: $NuSTAR$, and $Swift$ observations of T Coronae Borealis during the rise to the "super-active" state

The current $super-active$ state of the recurrent nova T CrB has been observed with unprecedented detail. Previously published observations provide strong evidence that this state is due to an enhancement of the flow of material through the accretion disk, which increased the optical depth of its most internal region, the boundary layer. $NuSTAR$ and $Swift$ observed T CrB in 2015 September, roughly halfway through the rise to optical maximum. In our analysis of these data, we have found that: $i$) the UV emission, as observed with $Swift$/UVOT in 2015, was already as bright as it became in 2017, after the optical peak; $ii$) the soft X-ray emission (E $\lesssim$ 0.6 keV) observed in 2017 after the optical peak, on the other hand, had not yet developed during the rising phase in 2015; $iii$) the hard X-ray emitting plasma (E $\gtrsim$ 2 keV) had the same temperature and about half the flux of that observed during quiescence in 2006. This phenomenology is akin to that observed during dwarf novae in outburst, but with the changes in the spectral energy distribution happening on a far longer time scale.

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arXiv2019

RAMSES II - RAMan Search for Extragalactic Symbiotic Stars. Project concept, commissioning, and early results from the science verification phase

Symbiotic stars (SySts) are long-period interacting binaries composed of a hot compact star, an evolved giant star, and a tangled network of gas and dust nebulae. They represent unique laboratories for studying a variety of important astrophysical problems, and have also been proposed as possible progenitors of SNIa. Presently, we know 257 SySts in the Milky Way and 69 in external galaxies. However, these numbers are still in striking contrast with the predicted population of SySts in our Galaxy. Because of other astrophysical sources that mimic SySt colors, no photometric diagnostic tool has so far demonstrated the power to unambiguously identify a SySt, thus making the recourse to costly spectroscopic follow-up still inescapable. In this paper we present the concept, commissioning, and science verification phases, as well as the first scientific results, of RAMSES II - a Gemini Observatory Instrument Upgrade Project that has provided each GMOS instrument at both Gemini telescopes with a set of narrow-band filters centered on the Raman OVI 6830 A band. Continuum-subtracted images using these new filters clearly revealed known SySts with a range of Raman OVI line strengths, even in crowded fields. RAMSES II observations also produced the first detection of Raman OVI emission from the SySt LMC 1 and confirmed Hen 3-1768 as a new SySt - the first photometric confirmation of a SySt. Via Raman OVI narrow-band imaging, RAMSES II provides the astronomical community with the first purely photometric tool for hunting SySts in the local Universe.

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arXiv2018

NuSTAR Detection of X-rays Concurrent with Gamma Rays in the Nova V5855 Sgr

We report the first detection of hard (>10 keV) X-ray emission simultaneous with gamma rays in a nova eruption. Observations of the nova V5855 Sgr carried out with the NuSTAR satellite on Day 12 of the eruption revealed faint, highly absorbed thermal X-rays. The extreme equivalent hydrogen column density towards the X-ray emitting region (~3 x 10$^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$) indicates that the shock producing the X-rays was deeply embedded within the nova ejecta. The slope of the X-ray spectrum favors a thermal origin for the bulk of the emission, and the constraints of the temperature in the shocked region suggest a shock velocity compatible with the ejecta velocities inferred from optical spectroscopy. While we do not claim the detection of non-thermal X-rays, the data do not allow us to rule out an additional, fainter component dominating at energy above 20 keV, for which we obtained upper limits. The inferred luminosity of the thermal X-rays is too low to be consistent with the gamma-ray luminosities if both are powered by the same shock under standard assumptions regarding the efficiency of non-thermal particle acceleration and the temperature distribution of the shocked gas.

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arXiv2018

X-ray, UV, and optical observations of the accretion disk and boundary layer in the symbiotic star RT Cru

Compared to mass transfer in cataclysmic variables, the nature of accretion in symbiotic binaries in which red giants transfer material to white dwarfs (WDs) has been difficult to uncover. The accretion flows in a symbiotic binary are most clearly observable, however, when there is no quasi-steady shell burning on the WD to hide them. RT Cru is the prototype of such non-burning symbiotics, with its hard (δ-type) X-ray emission providing a view of its innermost accretion structures. In the past 20 yr, RT Cru has experienced two similar optical brightening events, separated by 4000 days and with amplitudes of ΔV 1.5 mag. After Swift became operative, the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) detector revealed a hard X-ray brightening event almost in coincidence with the second optical peak. Spectral and timing analyses of multi-wavelength observations that we describe here, from NuSTAR, Suzaku, Swift/X-Ray Telescope (XRT) + BAT + UltraViolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) (photometry) and optical photometry and spectroscopy, indicate that accretion proceeds through a disk that reaches down to the WD surface. The scenario in which a massive, magnetic WD accretes from a magnetically truncated accretion disk is not supported. For example, none of our data show the minute-time-scale periodic modulations (with tight upper limits from X-ray data) expected from a spinning, magnetic WD. Moreover, the similarity of the UV and X-ray fluxes, as well as the approximate constancy of the hardness ratio within the BAT band, indicate that the boundary layer of the accretion disk remained optically thin to its own radiation throughout the brightening event, during which the rate of accretion onto the WD increased to 6.7 $\times$ 10-9 Msun yr^{-1} (d/2 kpc)^2. (Abridged abstract version)

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arXiv2018

Dramatic change in the boundary layer in the symbiotic recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis

A sudden increase in the rate at which material reaches the most internal part of an accretion disk, i.e. the boundary layer, can change its structure dramatically. We have witnessed such change for the first time in the symbiotic recurrent nova T CrB. Our analysis of XMM-Newton, Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT)/ X-Ray Telescope (XRT) / UltraViolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) and American Association of Variable Stars Observers (AAVSO) V and B-band data indicates that during an optical brightening event that started in early 2014 ($Δ$ V$\approx$1.5): (i) the hard X-ray emission as seen with BAT almost vanished; (ii) the XRT X-ray flux decreased significantly while the optical flux remained high; (iii) the UV flux increased by at least a factor of 40 over the quiescent value; and (iv) the X-ray spectrum became much softer and a bright, new, blackbody-like component appeared. We suggest that the optical brightening event, which could be a similar event to that observed about 8 years before the most recent thermonuclear outburst in 1946, is due to a disk instability

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arXiv2018

Broad absorption line symbiotic stars: highly ionized species in the fast outflow from MWC 560

In symbiotic binaries, jets and disk winds may be integral to the physics of accretion onto white dwarfs from cool giants. The persistent outflow from symbiotic star MWC 560 (=V694 Mon) is known to manifest as broad absorption lines (BALs), most prominently at the Balmer transitions. We report the detection of high-ionization BALs from C IV, Si IV, N V, and He II in International Ultraviolet Explorer spectra obtained on 1990 April 29-30, when an optical outburst temporarily erased the obscuring 'iron curtain' of absorption troughs from Fe II and similar ions. The C IV and Si IV BALs reached maximum radial velocities at least 1000 km/s higher than contemporaneous Mg II and He II BALs; the same behaviors occur in the winds of quasars and cataclysmic variables. An iron curtain lifts to unveil high-ionization BALs during the P Cygni phase observed in some novae, suggesting by analogy a temporary switch in MWC 560 from persistent outflow to discrete mass ejection. At least three more symbiotic stars exhibit broad absorption with blue edges faster than 1500 km/s; high-ionization BALs have been reported in AS 304 (=V4018 Sgr), while transient Balmer BALs have been reported in Z And and CH Cyg. These BAL-producing fast outflows can have wider opening angles than has been previously supposed. BAL symbiotics are short-timescale laboratories for their giga-scale analogs, broad absorption line quasars (BALQSOs), which display a similarly wide range of ionization states in their winds.

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arXiv2017

The Peculiar Multi-Wavelength Evolution Of V1535 Sco

We present multi-wavelength observations of the unusual nova V1535 Sco throughout its outburst in 2015. Early radio observations were consistent with synchrotron emission, and early X-ray observations revealed the presence of high-energy (>1 keV) photons. These indicated that strong shocks were present during the first ~2 weeks of the nova's evolution. The radio spectral energy distribution was consistent with thermal emission from week 2 to week 6. Starting in week 7, the radio emission again showed evidence of synchrotron emission and there was an increase in X-ray emission, indicating a second shock event. The optical spectra show evidence for at least two separate outflows, with the faster outflow possibly having a bipolar morphology. The optical and near infrared light curves and the X-ray measurements of the hydrogen column density indicated that the companion star is likely a K giant.

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arXiv2017

Flows and Shocks: Some Recent Developments in Symbiotic Star and Nova Research

There have been several surprising developments in our understanding of symbiotic binary stars and nova eruptions over the last decade or so based on multiwavelength data. For example, symbiotic stars without shell burning on their white dwarfs have been revealed through their X-ray emission, UV excess, and UV variability. These purely accretion powered symbiotic stars have much weaker optical emission lines than those with shell burning, and are therefore harder to discover. Yet they may be as numerous as symbiotic stars with shell burning. Interestingly, both types of symbiotic stars are capable of driving strong outflows, leading to colliding wind X-ray emission and spatially resolved jets. For nova eruptions, the most surprising discovery has been that they are capable of particle acceleration as evidenced by Fermi detection of novae as transient GeV gamma-ray sources. For nova eruptions in cataclysmic variables, this implicates internal shocks, between a slow, dense outflow and a fast outflow or wind. Other signatures of shocks include thermal X-rays and non-thermal radio emissions, and a substantial fraction of optical emission may be shock-powered in the early phase of novae. Radio (V959 Mon) and HST (V959 Mon and T Pyx) images of nova shells within a few years of their respective eruptions suggest that the ejecta from a nova may commonly consist of an equatorial ring and a bipolar outflow.

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arXiv2016

Swift observations of the 2015 outburst of AG Peg -- from slow nova to classical symbiotic outburst

Symbiotic stars often contain white dwarfs with quasi-steady shell burning on their surfaces. However, in most symbiotics, the origin of this burning is unclear. In symbiotic slow novae, however, it is linked to a past thermonuclear runaway. In June 2015, the symbiotic slow nova AG Peg was seen in only its second optical outburst since 1850. This recent outburst was of much shorter duration and lower amplitude than the earlier eruption, and it contained multiple peaks -- like outbursts in classical symbiotic stars such as Z And. We report Swift X-ray and UV observations of AG Peg made between June 2015 and January 2016. The X-ray flux was markedly variable on a time scale of days, particularly during four days near optical maximum, when the X-rays became bright and soft. This strong X-ray variability continued for another month, after which the X-rays hardened as the optical flux declined. The UV flux was high throughout the outburst, consistent with quasi-steady shell burning on the white dwarf. Given that accretion disks around white dwarfs with shell burning do not generally produce detectable X-rays (due to Compton-cooling of the boundary layer), the X-rays probably originated via shocks in the ejecta. As the X-ray photo-electric absorption did not vary significantly, the X-ray variability may directly link to the properties of the shocked material. AG Peg's transition from a slow symbiotic nova (which drove the 1850 outburst) to a classical symbiotic star suggests that shell burning in at least some symbiotic stars is residual burning from prior novae.

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arXiv2016

Shock-powered radio emission from V5589 Sagittarii (Nova Sgr 2012 1)

Since the Fermi discovery of $γ$-rays from novae, one of the biggest questions in the field has been how novae generate such high-energy emission. Shocks must be a fundamental ingredient. Six months of radio observations of the 2012 nova V5589 Sgr with the VLA and 15 weeks of X-ray observations with Swift/XRT show that the radio emission consisted of: 1) a shock-powered, non-thermal flare; and 2) weak thermal emission from $10^{-5}$ M$_\odot$ of freely expanding, photoionized ejecta. Absorption features in the optical spectrum and the peak optical brightness suggest that V5589 Sgr lies 4 kpc away (3.2-4.6 kpc). The shock-powered flare dominated the radio light curve at low frequencies before day 100. The spectral evolution of the radio flare, its high radio brightness temperature, the presence of unusually hard ($kT_x > 33$ keV) X-rays, and the ratio of radio to X-ray flux near radio maximum all support the conclusions that the flare was shock-powered and non-thermal. Unlike most other novae with strong shock-powered radio emission, V5589 Sgr is not embedded in the wind of a red-giant companion. Based on the similar inclinations and optical line profiles of V5589 Sgr and V959 Mon, we propose that shocks in V5589 Sgr formed from collisions between a slow flow with an equatorial density enhancement and a subsequent faster flow. We speculate that the relatively high speed and low mass of the ejecta led to the unusual radio emission from V5589 Sgr, and perhaps also to the non-detection of $γ$-rays.

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arXiv2016

SU Lyncis, a hard X-ray bright M giant: Clues point to a large hidden population of symbiotic stars

Symbiotic star surveys have traditionally relied almost exclusively on low resolution optical spectroscopy. However, we can obtain a more reliable estimate of their total Galactic population by using all available signatures of the symbiotic phenomenon. Here we report the discovery of a hard X-ray source, 4PBC J0642.9+5528, in the Swift hard X-ray all-sky survey, and identify it with a poorly studied red giant, SU Lyn, using pointed Swift observations and ground-based optical spectroscopy. The X-ray spectrum, the optical to UV spectrum, and the rapid UV variability of SU Lyn are all consistent with our interpretation that it is a symbiotic star containing an accreting white dwarf. The symbiotic nature of SU Lyn went unnoticed until now, because it does not exhibit emission lines strong enough to be obvious in low resolution spectra. We argue that symbiotic stars without shell-burning have weak emission lines, and that the current lists of symbiotic stars are biased in favor of shell-burning systems. We conclude that the true population of symbiotic stars has been underestimated, potentially by a large factor.

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arXiv2016

Symbiotic stars in X-rays III: Suzaku observations

We describe the X-ray emission as observed with Suzaku from five symbiotic stars that we selected for deep Suzaku observations after their initial detection with ROSAT, ASCA and Swift. We find that the X-ray spectra of all five sources can be adequately fit with absorbed, optically thin thermal plasma models, with either single- or multi-temperature plasmas. These models are compatible with the X-ray emission originating in the boundary layer between an accretion disk and a white dwarf. The high plasma temperatures of kT$~>3$ keV for all five targets were greater than expected for colliding winds. Based on these high temperatures, as well as previous measurements of UV variability and UV luminosity, and the large amplitude of X-ray flickering in 4 Dra, we conclude that all five sources are accretion-powered through predominantly optically thick boundary layers. Our X-ray data allow us to observe a small, optically thin portion of the emission from these boundary layers. Given the time between previous observations and these observations, we find that the intrinsic X-ray flux and the intervening absorbing column can vary by factors of three or more on a time scale of years. However, the location of the absorber and the relationship between changes in accretion rate and absorption are still elusive.

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arXiv2016

Flickering of accreting white dwarfs: the remarkable amplitude-flux relation and disc viscosity

We analyze optical photometric data of short term variability (flickering) of accreting white dwarfs in cataclysmic variables (KR Aur, MV Lyr, V794 Aql, TT Ari, V425 Cas), recurrent novae (RS Oph and T CrB) and jet-ejecting symbiotic stars (CH Cyg and MWC 560). We find that the amplitude-flux relationship is visible over four orders of magnitude, in the range of fluxes from $10^{29}$ to $10^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$ Å$^{-1}$, as a "statistically perfect" correlation with correlation coefficient 0.96 and p-value $ \sim 10^{-28}$. In the above range, the amplitude of variability for any of our 9 objects is proportional to the flux level with (almost) one and the same factor of proportionality for all 9 accreting white dwarfs with $ΔF = 0.36 (\pm 0.05) F_{av}$, $σ_{rms} = 0.086(\pm 0.011) F_{av}$, and $σ_{rms} / ΔF = 0.24 \pm 0.02$. Over all, our results indicate that the viscosity in the accretion discs is practically the same for all 9 objects in our sample, in the mass accretion rate range $2 \times 10^{-11} - 2\times10^{-7}$ $M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$.

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arXiv2015

Non-Thermal Radio Emission from Colliding Flows in Classical Nova V1723 Aql

The importance of shocks in nova explosions has been highlighted by Fermi's discovery of γ-ray producing novae. Over three years of multi-band VLA radio observations of the 2010 nova V1723 Aql show that shocks between fast and slow flows within the ejecta led to the acceleration of particles and the production of synchrotron radiation. Soon after the start of the eruption, shocks in the ejecta produced an unexpected radio flare, resulting in a multi-peaked radio light curve. The emission eventually became consistent with an expanding thermal remnant with mass $2 \times 10^{-4} M_\odot$ and temperature $10^4$ K. However, during the first two months, the $\gtrsim 10^6$ K brightness temperature at low frequencies was too high to be due to thermal emission from the small amount of X-ray producing shock-heated gas. Radio imaging showed structures with velocities of 400 km s$^{-1}$ (d/6 kpc) in the plane of the sky, perpendicular to a more elongated 1500 km s$^{-1}$ (d/6 kpc) flow. The morpho-kinematic structure of the ejecta from V1723 Aql appears similar to nova V959 Mon, where collisions between a slow torus and a faster flow collimated the fast flow and gave rise to γ-ray producing shocks. Optical spectroscopy and X-ray observations of V1723 Aql during the radio flare are consistent with this picture. Our observations support the idea that shocks in novae occur when a fast flow collides with a slow collimating torus. Such shocks could be responsible for hard X-ray emission, γ-ray production, and double-peaked radio light curves from some classical novae.

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arXiv2015

Optical Flickering of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi: amplitude - flux relation

We report observations of the flickering variability of the symbiotic recurrent nova RS~Oph at quiescence in five bands ($UBVRI$). We find evidence of a correlation between the peak-to-peak flickering amplitude ($ΔF$) and the average flux of the hot component ($F_{\rm av}$). The correlation is highly significant, with a correlation coefficient of 0.85 and a $p$-value of~$\sim 10^{-20}$. Combining the data from all wavebands, we find a dependence of the type $ΔF \propto F^k_{\rm av}$, with power-law index $k = 1.02 \pm 0.04$ for the $UBVRI$ flickering of RS~Oph. Thus, the relationship between the amplitude of variability and the average flux of the hot component is consistent with linearity. The rms amplitude of flickering is on average 8 per cent ($\pm2$ per cent) of $F_{\rm av}$. The detected correlation is similar to that found in accreting black holes/neutron stars and cataclysmic variables. The possible reasons are briefly discussed. The data are available upon request from the authors.

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arXiv2015

Symbiotic stars in X-rays III: long term variability

We study the X-ray emission from five symbiotic stars observed with Suzaku. These objects were selected for deeper observations with Suzaku after their first detection with ROSAT and Swift. We found that the X-ray spectra can be adequately fit with absorbed optically thin thermal plasma models, either single or multi-temperature. Such a model is compatible with the X-ray emission being originated in the innermost region of the accretion disk, i.e. a boundary layer. Based on the large flickering amplitude (only detected in 4 Dra), the high plasma temperature and previous measurements of UV variability and luminosity, we conclude that all five sources are accretion-powered through predominantly opticall thick boundary layer. Given the time lapse between previous and these observations, we were able to study the long term variability of their X-ray emission and found that the intrinsic X-ray flux and the intervening absorption column can vary by factors of three or more. However, it is still elusive the location of the absorber and how the changes in the accretion rate and absorption are related.

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