Chandra High Energy Transmission Gratings Spectra of V3890 Sgr

Abstract

The recurrent nova (RN) V3890 Sgr was observed during the seventh day after the onset of its most recent outburst, with the Chandra ACIS-S camera and High Energy Transmission Gratings. A rich emission line spectrum was detected, due to transitions of Fe-L and K-shell ions ranging from neon to iron. The measured absorbed flux is ≈10−10 erg cm−2 s −1 in the 1.4–15 Å range (0.77–8.86 keV). The line profiles are asymmetric, blueshifted, and skewed toward the blue side, as if the ejecta moving toward us are less absorbed than the receding ejecta. The full width at half-maximum of most emission lines is 1000–1200 km s−1 , with some extended blue wings. The spectrum is thermal and consistent with a plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium with column density 1.3 × 1022 cm−2 and at least two components at temperatures of about 1 and 4 keV, possibly a forward and a reverse shock, or regions with differently mixed ejecta and a red giant wind. The spectrum is remarkably similar to the symbiotic RNe V745 Sco and RS Oph, but we cannot distinguish whether the shocks occurred at a distance of a few au from the red giant, or near the giant’s photosphere, in a high-density medium containing only a low mass. The ratios of the flux in lines of aluminum, magnesium, and neon relative to the flux in lines of silicon and iron probably indicate a carbon–oxygen white dwarf.