PTF10nvg: AN OUTBURSTING CLASS I PROTOSTAR IN THE PELICAN/NORTH AMERICAN NEBULA

Journal Article · Tue Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2011 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/141/2/40· OSTI ID:21583257

Covey, Kevin R ^[1]; Hillenbrand, Lynne A; Kasliwal, Mansi M; Ofek, Eran O ^[2]; Miller, Adam A; Poznanski, Dovi; Cenko, S Bradley; Silverman, Jeffrey M; Bloom, Joshua S; Butler, Nathaniel R; Filippenko, Alexei V ^[3]; Fischer, William ^[4]; Rayner, John ^[5]; Rebull, Luisa M ^[6]; Law, Nicholas M ^[7]; Agueeros, Marcel ^[8]; Dekany, Richard G; Rahmer, Gustavo; Hale, David; Smith, Roger ^[9]

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1. Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, 226 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)
2. Astrophysics Department, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
3. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH 43606 (United States)
5. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
6. Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
7. Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto M5S 3H4, Ontario (Canada)
8. Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
9. Caltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

During a synoptic survey of the North American Nebula region, the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) detected an optical outburst (dubbed PTF10nvg) associated with the previously unstudied flat or rising spectrum infrared source IRAS 20496+4354. The PTF R-band light curve reveals that PTF10nvg brightened by more than 5 mag during the current outburst, rising to a peak magnitude of R{sub PTF} {approx} 13.5 in 2010 September. Follow-up observations indicate that PTF10nvg has undergone a similar {approx}5 mag brightening in the K band and possesses a rich emission-line spectrum, including numerous lines commonly assumed to trace mass accretion and outflows. Many of these lines are blueshifted by {approx}175 km s{sup -1} from the North American Nebula's rest velocity, suggesting that PTF10nvg is driving an outflow. Optical spectra of PTF10nvg show several TiO/VO band heads fully in emission, indicating the presence of an unusual amount of dense (>10{sup 10} cm{sup -3}), warm (1500-4000 K) circumstellar material. Near-infrared spectra of PTF10nvg appear quite similar to a spectrum of McNeil's Nebula/V1647 Ori, a young star which has undergone several brightenings in recent decades, and 06297+1021W, a Class I protostar with a similarly reached near-infrared emission line spectrum. While further monitoring is required to fully understand this event, we conclude that the brightening of PTF10nvg is indicative of enhanced accretion and outflow in this Class-I-type protostellar object, similar to the behavior of V1647 Ori in 2004-2005.

• OSTI ID: 21583257
• Journal Information: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Journal Name: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 141; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
CHALCOGENIDES
EVOLUTION
INFRARED SPECTRA
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
NEBULAE
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SPECTRA
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
TITANIUM COMPOUNDS
TITANIUM OXIDES
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
VANADIUM COMPOUNDS
VANADIUM OXIDES