backClassical Novae in the Magellanic Clouds
The population of classical novae in the Magellanic Clouds was poorly
known because of a lack of systematic studies. There were some
suggestions that nova rates per unit mass in the Magellanic Clouds
were higher than in any other galaxy. We present an analysis of data
collected over sixteen years by the OGLE survey with the aim of
characterizing nova population in the Clouds. We found twenty
eruptions of novae, half of them are new discoveries. We robustly
measure the nova rates of 2.4 ± 0.8 per year (LMC)
and 0.9 ± 0.4 per year (SMC) and confirm
that K-band luminosity-specific nova rates in both Clouds are
2–3 times higher than in other galaxies. This can be explained by the
star formation history in the Magellanic Clouds, specifically a
re-ignition of the star formation rate a few Gyr ago.
Light curves of nova eruptions.
We also present the discovery of an intriguing system OGLE-MBR133.25.1160 which mimics recurrent nova eruptions.
Light curve of OGLE-MBR133.25.1160 showing fast, nova-like outbursts.
The time-series photometry of objects presented in this paper is available from the OGLE Internet Archive.
Please cite the following paper when using the data or referring to these OGLE results: Mróz et al. 2015, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 222, 9, arXiv:1511.06355.
Any comments about the data and the form of their presentation are welcome. Send your messages to this adress.