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The Mass of the White Dwarf in the Recurrent Nova CI Aquilae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2013

D. I. Sahman  and
V. S. Dhillon
D. I. Sahman
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK. email: [email protected]
V. S. Dhillon
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK. email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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If recurrent novae (RNe) are progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia), their white dwarfs (WD) must have masses close to the Chandrasekhar limit. The most reliable means of determining WD masses in RNe is dynamically, via radial-velocity and rotational-broadening measurements of the companion star. Such measurements require the system to be both eclipsing and to show absorption features from the secondary star. The only other reliable RNe mass estimate is for U Sco, which has a WD mass of 1.55 ± 0.24 M⊙ (Thoroughgood et al. 2001).

We present new time-resolved, intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of the eclipsing RN CI Aql during quiescence. We find the mass of the WD to be 1.02 ± 0.08 M⊙ and the mass of the secondary star to be 2.41 ± 0.2 M⊙. We estimate the radius of the secondary to be 2.10 ± 0.07 R⊙. The high mass ratio of q=2.37 ± 0.15 and the high secondary star mass suggests that mass transfer occurs on a thermal timescale. We suggest that CI Aql is evolving into a supersoft x-ray source, and ultimately will explode as an SN Ia.

Keywords

stars: novaecataclysmic variablesindividual (CI Aquilae)
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 7 , Issue S281: Binary Paths to Type Ia Supernovae Explosions , July 2011 , pp. 193 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

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