The first three years of the outburst and light-echo evolution of V838 Mon and the nature of its progenitor

U. Munari; A. Henden

doi:10.1063/1.2130251

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The first three years of the outburst and light-echo evolution of V838 Mon and the nature of its progenitor

U. Munari·A. Henden

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Abstract

V838 Mon has undergone one of the most mysterious stellar outbursts on record, with (a) a large amplitude (Delta B ~ 10 mag) and multi-maxima photometric pattern, (b) a cool spectral type at maximum becoming cooler and cooler with time during the descent, until it reached the never-seen-before realm of L-type supergiants, never passing through optically thin or nebular stages, (c) the development of a spectacular, monotonically expanding light-echo in the circumstellar material, and (d) the identification of a massive and young B3V companion, unaffected by the outburst. In this talk we review the photometric and spectroscopic evolution during the first three full years of outburst, the light-echo development and infer the nature of the progenitor, which was brighter and hotter in quiescence than the B3V companion and with an inferred ZAMS mass of about 65 Msun.

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U. Munari, A. Henden. 2005-01-25. The first three years of the outburst and light-echo evolution of V838 Mon and the nature of its progenitor. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2130251

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