The mystery of T Pyx; the 2011 explosion
Scritto
il 06 Apr 2013 alle 01:39
in Pubblicazioni
T Pyx is a recurrent nova which has undergone eruptions on an almost
regular basis every 20 years until reaching a long lasting quiescence
between 1967 and 2011. We observed the long awaited 2011 explosion in
the optical and near infrared with intermediate spectral resolution. In
this paper we report on the change in the spectral type of the nova
(both during its rise and during its fading), as well as the observed
changes in the expansion velocities. We also present an interpretation
of these changes and set them in the general framework of a new
understanding of nova classification.