AB Boötis, also known as Nova Boötis 1877 and occasionally Nova Comae Berenices 1877, is an object that may have undergone a nova outburst in 1877. It was discovered by Friedrich Schwab at Technische Universität Ilmenau in 1877.[5][6] He reported observing the star as a 5th magnitude object, visible to the naked eye, on 14 nights during the period from 30 May 1877 through 14 July 1877. The star was lost, and despite several searches in subsequent years, no other 19th century observations of the nova were reported.[3] Downes et al. estimate that Schwab's reported coordinates for the star may have had a precision no better than 1/2 degree.[7] In 1971, A. Sh. Khatisov suggested that the star Schwab saw was BD +21°2606 (whose visual magnitude is 10.64 in the Tycho-2 Catalogue, roughly 100 times fainter than the object Schwab reported[8]), but that identification may be incorrect.[5][9]
 | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Boötes |
| Right ascension | 14h 07m 04.4s[1] |
| Declination | +20° 44′ 45″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 4.5 – 22[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Variable type | nova?[3] |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
In 1988 Downes and Szkody imaged the area around AB Boötis' reported position, to try to identify the nova in its quiescent state based on its color, but their search was unsuccessful.[10] In 2000, Liu et al. published a spectrum of AB Boötis, which they describe as a cataclysmic variable (a class which includes novae), but they did not publish the coordinates of the star they examined, so exactly which star they observed is unclear.[11] In 2020, Hoffmann and Vogt suggested that AB Boötis might be a re-appearance of a guest star that Chinese astronomers saw near Arcturus in 203 BCE.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b Downes, Ronald; Webbink, Ronald F.; Shara, Michael M. (April 1997). "A Catalog and Atlas of Cataclysmic Variables-Second Edition". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 109: 345–440. Bibcode:1997PASP..109..345D. doi:10.1086/133900. S2CID 120396435.
- ^ Howell, Steve B.; Szkody, Paula (June 1990). "High Galactic Latitude Cataclysmic Variables". Astrophysical Journal. 356: 623. Bibcode:1990ApJ...356..623H. doi:10.1086/168868.
- ^ a b Schwab, Friedrich (October 1901). "Über die Beobachtung einer Nova in Bootes im Jahre 1877". Astronomische Nachrichten. 156 (22): 349. Bibcode:1901AN....156..349S. doi:10.1002/asna.19011562205.
- ^ "AB Boo". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b Duerbeck, Hilmar W. (March 1987). "A Reference Catalogue and Atlas of Galactic Novae". Space Science Reviews. 45 (1–2): 1–14. Bibcode:1987SSRv...45....1D. doi:10.1007/BF00187826. S2CID 115854775.
- ^ Zsoldos, Endre (October 2001). Miklós Konkoly Thege (1842-1916). 100 Years of Observational Astronomy and Astrophysics - A collection of papers on the history of Observational Astrophysics. Universiteit Brüssel. Bibcode:2001mkt..book...65Z. ISBN 9080553832.
- ^ Downes, Ronald A.; Webbink, Ronald F.; Shara, Michael M.; Ritter, Hans; Kolb, Ulrich; Duerbeck, Hilmar W. (June 2001). "A catalog and atlas of cataclysmic variables: the living edition". The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 113 (784): 764–768. arXiv:astro-ph/0102302. Bibcode:2001PASP..113..764D. doi:10.1086/320802. S2CID 16285959.
- ^ "BD +212606". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ Khatisov, A. Sh. (January 1971). "Catalogue of precise positions of 42 novae". Abastumanskaya Astrofiz. Obs. Byull. 40: 13–28. Bibcode:1971AbaOB..40...13K.
- ^ Downes, Ronald A.; Szkody, Paula (June 1989). "CCD Observations of Old Nova Fields". Astronomical Journal. 97: 1729. Bibcode:1989AJ.....97.1729D. doi:10.1086/115113.
- ^ Liu, Xue-fu; Chen, Yang; Huang, He (January 2000). "Hα and Ca II triplet spectroscopy of cataclysmic variables and related objects". Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics. 24 (2): 169–184. Bibcode:2000ChA&A..24..169L. doi:10.1016/S0275-1062(00)00041-2.
- ^ Hoffmann, Susanne M.; Vogt, Nikolaus (August 2020). "Counterparts of Far Eastern Guest Stars: Novae, supernovae, or something else?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 496 (4): 4488–4506. arXiv:2006.00977. Bibcode:2020MNRAS.496.4488H. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa1685. S2CID 219176617.