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Session 109 - Novae & Cataclysmic Variables.
Display session, Saturday, January 10
Exhibit Hall,
Infrared observations of Galactic classical novae have demonstrated that these objects are important sources of highly processed material (at least on local scales), are laboratories for the study of the production of astrophysical dust grains, and may be contributors to chemical abundance anomalies on local scales of elements such as Ne, Mg, and Al that are known to characterize the ISM. Infrared spectroscopic studies of nova ejecta can also lead to a direct understanding of the evolution of and nucleosynthesis in white dwarf (WD) progenitors, as well as the thermonuclear runaway (TNR) reactions occurring on the WD. The composition of the ejecta may also reflect the history of mass-transfer and accretion in the binary system, and/or material dredged up from surface layers of the WD.
Here we present preliminary observational results and analyses of infrared spectrophotometric observations of the classical novae Cru96, Aql95, and Cas95 obtained as part of our ISO SWS program. The ONeMg novae, Cru96 and Aql95, show a marked temporal evolution in the Ne[II]\lambda12.8 \micron \ and Ne[VI]\lambda7.6 \micron \ lines, while all three novae have strong persistent O[IV]\lambda25.9 \micron \ emission, suggesting that this line is a predominate coolant at all epochs of ejecta evolution.
Acknowledgements:\/ These ISO data are presented on behalf of the US PROP-164 Nova Team (R.D. Gehrz, PI), the US ToO Nova Team (R.D. Gehrz, PI), the European Nova Team (M.J. Barlow, PI), and the Joint US/European ToO Nova Team (R.D. Gehrz, PI).
