A new approach to generate a catalogue of potential historical novae. (arXiv:1912.03139v1 [astro-ph.IM])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hoffmann_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Susanne M Hoffmann</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Vogt_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nikolaus Vogt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Protte_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Philipp Protte</a>
Ancient Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese observers left us records of celestial
sightings, the so-called `guest stars’ dated up to $sim2500$ years ago. Their
identification with modern observable targets could open interesting insights
into the long-term behavior of astronomical objects, as shown by the successful
identification of 8 galactic supernovae (SNe). Here we evaluate the possibility
to identify ancient classical novae with presently known cataclysmic variables
(CVs). For this purpose, we have developed a method which reconsiders in detail
positions and sizes of ancient asterisms, in order to define areas on the sky
that should be used for a search of modern counterparts. These areas range from
a few to several hundred square degrees, depending on the details given in
ancient texts; they should replace the single coordinate values given by
previous authors. Any appropriate target (CVs, X-ray binaries etc.) within
these areas can be considered as a valid candidate for identification with the
corresponding ancient event. Based on the original descriptions of several
hundred old events, we selected those without movement and without a tail (to
exclude comets) and which did not only visible within a certain hour (to
exclude meteors). This way, we present a shortlist of 24 most promising events
which could refer to classical nova eruptions. Our method is checked by
applying it to the known SN identifications, leading to a margin of error
between 0 and 4.5 degrees, meaning that some SN remnants lay exactly inside the
areas given by the historical reports while in some other cases they are laying
at considerable distances.
Ancient Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese observers left us records of celestial
sightings, the so-called `guest stars’ dated up to $sim2500$ years ago. Their
identification with modern observable targets could open interesting insights
into the long-term behavior of astronomical objects, as shown by the successful
identification of 8 galactic supernovae (SNe). Here we evaluate the possibility
to identify ancient classical novae with presently known cataclysmic variables
(CVs). For this purpose, we have developed a method which reconsiders in detail
positions and sizes of ancient asterisms, in order to define areas on the sky
that should be used for a search of modern counterparts. These areas range from
a few to several hundred square degrees, depending on the details given in
ancient texts; they should replace the single coordinate values given by
previous authors. Any appropriate target (CVs, X-ray binaries etc.) within
these areas can be considered as a valid candidate for identification with the
corresponding ancient event. Based on the original descriptions of several
hundred old events, we selected those without movement and without a tail (to
exclude comets) and which did not only visible within a certain hour (to
exclude meteors). This way, we present a shortlist of 24 most promising events
which could refer to classical nova eruptions. Our method is checked by
applying it to the known SN identifications, leading to a margin of error
between 0 and 4.5 degrees, meaning that some SN remnants lay exactly inside the
areas given by the historical reports while in some other cases they are laying
at considerable distances.
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