CK Vul: a smorgasbord of hydrocarbons rules out a 1670 nova (and much else besides)

Van Loon

Abstract

We present observations of CK Vul obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared spectrum reveals a warm dust continuum with nebular, molecular hydrogen and HCN lines superimposed, together with the ‘Unidentified Infrared’ features. The nebular lines are consistent with emission by a low-density gas. We conclude that the Spitzer data, combined with other information, are incompatible with CK Vul being a classical nova remnant in ‘hibernation’ after the event of 1670, a ‘very late thermal pulse’, a ‘Luminous Red Variable’, such as V838 Mon, or a ‘diffusion-induced nova’. The true nature of CK Vul remains a mystery.

Citation

Van Loon. (2016). CK Vul: a smorgasbord of hydrocarbons rules out a 1670 nova (and much else besides). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2871 - 2876. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw352

• Acceptance Date: Dec 5, 2015
• Publication Date: Apr 11, 2016
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 2871 - 2876
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw352
• Keywords: astronomy, astrophysics, circumstellar matter stars, CK Vul ISM, molecules, infrared, stars
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw352