AAVSO and DASCH light curve of U Mon

DOI

We present an X-ray through submillimeter observations of the classical RV Tauri (RVb-type) variable U Mon, a post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) binary with a circumbinary disk (CBD). Our SMA observations indicate a CBD diameter of <~550au. Our XMM-Newton observations make U Mon the first RV Tauri variable detected in X-rays. The X-ray emission is characteristic of a hot plasma (~10MK), with L_X_=5x10^30^erg/s, and we consider its possible origin from U Mon, its companion, and/or binary system interactions. Combining DASCH and AAVSO data, we extend the time-series photometric baseline back to the late 1880s and find evidence that U Mon has secular changes that appear to recur on a timescale of ~60yr, possibly caused by a feature in the CBD. From literature radial velocities we find that the binary companion is a ~2M_{sun}_ A-type main-sequence star. The orientation of the binary's orbit lies along our line of sight ({omega}=95{deg}), such that apastron corresponds to photometric RVb minima, consistent with the post-AGB star becoming obscured by the near side of the CBD. In addition, we find the size of the inner-CBD hole (~4.5-9au) to be comparable to the binary separation, implying that one or both stars may interact with the CBD at apastron. The obscuration of the post-AGB star implicates the companion as the likely source of the enhanced H{alpha} observed at RVb minima and of the X-ray emission that may arise from accreted material.

Identifier
DOI http://doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier.19090138
Source https://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/lp/custom/CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/909/138
Related Identifier https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/909/138
Related Identifier http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/909/138
Metadata Access http://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/pmh/pubreg.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_b2find&identifier=ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/909/138
Provenance
Creator Vega L.D.; Stassun K.G.; Montez R.; Kaminski T.; Sabin L.; Schlegel E.M.,Vlemmings W.H.T.; Kastner J.H.; Ramstedt S.; Boyd P.T.
Publisher CDS
Publication Year 2022
Rights https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.html
OpenAccess true
Contact CDS support team <cds-question(at)unistra.fr>
Representation
Resource Type Dataset; AstroObjects
Discipline Astrophysics and Astronomy; Natural Sciences; Observational Astronomy; Physics; Stellar Astronomy