Discovery of an old nova remnant in the Galactic globular cluster M 22. (arXiv:1904.11515v1 [astro-ph.SR])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gottgens_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">Fabian Göttgens</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Weilbacher_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Peter M. Weilbacher</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Roth_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Martin M. Roth</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dreizler_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Stefan Dreizler</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Giesers_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Benjamin Giesers</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Husser_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tim-Oliver Husser</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kamann_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sebastian Kamann</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Brinchmann_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jarle Brinchmann</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kollatschny_W/0/1/0/all/0/1">Wolfram Kollatschny</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Monreal_Ibero_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ana Monreal-Ibero</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Schmidt_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kasper B. Schmidt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wendt_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Martin Wendt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wisotzki_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lutz Wisotzki</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bacon_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Roland Bacon</a>
A nova is a cataclysmic event on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary
system that increases the overall brightness by several orders of magnitude.
Although binary systems with a white dwarf are expected to be overabundant in
globular clusters (GCs) compared to the Galaxy, only two novae from Galactic
globular clusters have been observed. We present the discovery of an emission
nebula in the Galactic globular cluster M 22 (NGC 6656) in observations made
with the integral-field spectrograph MUSE. We extract the spectrum of the
nebula and use the radial velocity determined from the emission lines to
confirm that the nebula is part of NGC 6656. Emission-line ratios are used to
determine the electron temperature and density. It is estimated to have a mass
of 1 to $17 times 10^{-5}$ solar masses. This mass and the emission-line
ratios indicate that the nebula is a nova remnant. Its position coincides with
the reported location of a ‘guest star’, an ancient Chinese term for
transients, observed in May 48 BCE. With this discovery, this nova may be one
of the oldest confirmed extrasolar events recorded in human history.
A nova is a cataclysmic event on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary
system that increases the overall brightness by several orders of magnitude.
Although binary systems with a white dwarf are expected to be overabundant in
globular clusters (GCs) compared to the Galaxy, only two novae from Galactic
globular clusters have been observed. We present the discovery of an emission
nebula in the Galactic globular cluster M 22 (NGC 6656) in observations made
with the integral-field spectrograph MUSE. We extract the spectrum of the
nebula and use the radial velocity determined from the emission lines to
confirm that the nebula is part of NGC 6656. Emission-line ratios are used to
determine the electron temperature and density. It is estimated to have a mass
of 1 to $17 times 10^{-5}$ solar masses. This mass and the emission-line
ratios indicate that the nebula is a nova remnant. Its position coincides with
the reported location of a ‘guest star’, an ancient Chinese term for
transients, observed in May 48 BCE. With this discovery, this nova may be one
of the oldest confirmed extrasolar events recorded in human history.
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