THE EARLY BLAST WAVE OF THE 2010 EXPLOSION OF U SCORPII
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo 'G.S. Vaiana', Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo (Italy)
Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations exploring the first 18 hr of the 2010 January 28 outburst of the recurrent nova U Scorpii have been performed. Special emphasis was placed on capturing the enormous range in spatial scales in the blast. The pre-explosion system conditions included the secondary star and a flared accretion disk. These conditions can have a profound influence on the evolving blast wave. The blast itself is shadowed by the secondary star, which itself gives rise to a low-temperature bow shock. The accretion disk is completely destroyed in the explosion. A model with a disk gas density of 10{sup 15} cm{sup -3} produced a blast wave that is collimated and with clear bipolar structures, including a bipolar X-ray emitting shell. The degree of collimation depends on the initial mass of ejecta, energy of explosion, and circumstellar gas density distribution. It is most pronounced for a model with the lowest explosion energy (10{sup 43} erg) and mass of ejecta (10{sup -8} M {sub sun}). The X-ray luminosities of three of six models computed are close to, but consistent with, an upper limit to the early blast X-ray emission obtained by the Swift satellite, the X-ray luminosity being larger for higher circumstellar gas density and higher ejecta mass. The latter consideration, together with estimates of the blast energy from previous outbursts, suggests that the mass of ejecta in the 2010 outburst was not larger than 10{sup -7} M {sub sun}.
- OSTI ID:
- 21452820
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 720, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/720/2/L195; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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