Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Breaking The Habit: The Peculiar 2016 Eruption Of The Unique Recurrent Nova M31n 2008-12a, M. Henze, T. D. Oswalt, M. J. Darnley, S. C. Williams, M. Kato, Et Al.

Publications

Since its discovery in 2008, the Andromeda galaxy nova M31N 2008-12a has been observed in eruption every single year. This unprecedented frequency indicates an extreme object, with a massive white dwarf and a high accretion rate, which is the most promising candidate for the single-degenerate progenitor of a Type Ia supernova known to date. The previous three eruptions of M31N 2008-12a have displayed remarkably homogeneous multiwavelength properties: (i) from a faint peak, the optical light curve declined rapidly by two magnitudes in less than two days, (ii) early spectra showed initial high velocities that slowed down significantly within days and …