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Title: The continued optical to mid-infrared evolution of V838 Monocerotis

Abstract

The eruptive variable V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) gained notoriety in 2002 when it brightened nine magnitudes in a series of three outbursts and then rapidly evolved into an extremely cool supergiant. We present optical, near-infrared (near-IR), and mid-IR spectroscopic and photometric observations of V838 Mon obtained between 2008 and 2012 at the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m, NASA IRTF 3 m, and Gemini South 8 m telescopes. We contemporaneously analyze the optical and IR spectroscopic properties of V838 Mon to arrive at a revised spectral type L3 supergiant and effective temperature T{sub eff}∼2000–2200 K. Because there are no existing optical observational data for L supergiants, we speculate that V838 Mon may represent the prototype for L supergiants in this wavelength regime. We find a low level of Hα emission present in the system, consistent with interaction between V838 Mon and its B3V binary; however, we cannot rule out a stellar collision as the genesis event, which could result in the observed Hα activity. Based upon a two-component blackbody fit to all wavelengths of our data, we conclude that, as of 2009, a shell of ejecta surrounded V838 Mon at a radius of R=263±10 AU with a temperature of T=285±2 K.more » This result is consistent with IR interferometric observations from the same era and predictions from the Lynch et al. model of the expanding system, which provides a simple framework for understanding this complicated system.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]; ;  [8];  [9];  [10]; ;  [11]
  1. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 830 Dennison, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1042 (United States)
  2. Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Oklahoma, 440 W. Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019 (United States)
  3. Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)
  4. NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
  5. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratory for Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics, Code 667, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
  6. Ritter Observatory, MS #113, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606-3390 (United States)
  7. AURA, 1212 New York Avenue NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20005 (United States)
  8. Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)
  9. Department of Physics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 300 Pulteney Street, Geneva, NY 14456 (United States)
  10. The Observatories, Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
  11. The Aerospace Corporation, M2-266, P.O. Box 92957, Los Angeles, CA 90009-29257 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22342166
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 149; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 1538-3881
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; COLLISIONS; EMISSION; EVOLUTION; FORECASTING; INTERACTIONS; INTERMEDIATE INFRARED RADIATION; ISOCHRONOUS CYCLOTRONS; NEAR INFRARED RADIATION; STARS; TELESCOPES; VARIABLE STARS; VISIBLE RADIATION

Citation Formats

Loebman, S. R., Wisniewski, J. P., Schmidt, S. J., Kowalski, A. F., Barry, R. K., Bjorkman, K. S., Hammel, H. B., Hawley, S. L., Szkody, P., Hebb, L., Kasliwal, M. M., Lynch, D. K., Russell, R. W., and Sitko, M. L., E-mail: sloebman@umich.edu. The continued optical to mid-infrared evolution of V838 Monocerotis. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/149/1/17.
Loebman, S. R., Wisniewski, J. P., Schmidt, S. J., Kowalski, A. F., Barry, R. K., Bjorkman, K. S., Hammel, H. B., Hawley, S. L., Szkody, P., Hebb, L., Kasliwal, M. M., Lynch, D. K., Russell, R. W., & Sitko, M. L., E-mail: sloebman@umich.edu. The continued optical to mid-infrared evolution of V838 Monocerotis. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/149/1/17
Loebman, S. R., Wisniewski, J. P., Schmidt, S. J., Kowalski, A. F., Barry, R. K., Bjorkman, K. S., Hammel, H. B., Hawley, S. L., Szkody, P., Hebb, L., Kasliwal, M. M., Lynch, D. K., Russell, R. W., and Sitko, M. L., E-mail: sloebman@umich.edu. 2015. "The continued optical to mid-infrared evolution of V838 Monocerotis". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/149/1/17.
@article{osti_22342166,
title = {The continued optical to mid-infrared evolution of V838 Monocerotis},
author = {Loebman, S. R. and Wisniewski, J. P. and Schmidt, S. J. and Kowalski, A. F. and Barry, R. K. and Bjorkman, K. S. and Hammel, H. B. and Hawley, S. L. and Szkody, P. and Hebb, L. and Kasliwal, M. M. and Lynch, D. K. and Russell, R. W. and Sitko, M. L., E-mail: sloebman@umich.edu},
abstractNote = {The eruptive variable V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) gained notoriety in 2002 when it brightened nine magnitudes in a series of three outbursts and then rapidly evolved into an extremely cool supergiant. We present optical, near-infrared (near-IR), and mid-IR spectroscopic and photometric observations of V838 Mon obtained between 2008 and 2012 at the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m, NASA IRTF 3 m, and Gemini South 8 m telescopes. We contemporaneously analyze the optical and IR spectroscopic properties of V838 Mon to arrive at a revised spectral type L3 supergiant and effective temperature T{sub eff}∼2000–2200 K. Because there are no existing optical observational data for L supergiants, we speculate that V838 Mon may represent the prototype for L supergiants in this wavelength regime. We find a low level of Hα emission present in the system, consistent with interaction between V838 Mon and its B3V binary; however, we cannot rule out a stellar collision as the genesis event, which could result in the observed Hα activity. Based upon a two-component blackbody fit to all wavelengths of our data, we conclude that, as of 2009, a shell of ejecta surrounded V838 Mon at a radius of R=263±10 AU with a temperature of T=285±2 K. This result is consistent with IR interferometric observations from the same era and predictions from the Lynch et al. model of the expanding system, which provides a simple framework for understanding this complicated system.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-6256/149/1/17},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22342166}, journal = {Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)},
issn = {1538-3881},
number = 1,
volume = 149,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}