X-ray Detection of the Supersoft Source Phase of Nova Vul 2007
ATel #1246; J. J. Drake (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), K. Page, J. Osborne (Leicester), M. Bode (Liverpool John Moores), R. Corradi, P. Rodriguez-Gil (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), J. Drew (Hertfordshire), B. Gaensicke, Daniel Steeghs (Warwick), C. Knigge (Southampton), J. Sokoloski (Columbia)
on 19 Oct 2007; 20:37 UT
Credential Certification: Jeremy J. Drake (jdrake@cfa.harvard.edu)
We report the X-ray detection of Nova Vul 2007 (S. Nakano, IAUC 8861 )
with the Swift X-ray Telescope in a 6.7ks observation obtained on 2007
October 18 at UT 01:05. The XRT spectrum contains 192 X-ray photons
and is largely consistent with a thermal plasma model with temperature
kT=0.2 +0.4/-0.07 keV and absorbing column NH=(8 +2/-3)e21 cm^-2. A
hotter component with a relative flux a factor of 10 lower and a
temperature of kT>1 keV is also required for a statistically
acceptable fit to the data. The 0.3-10 keV unabsorbed flux is 2.4e-12
erg cm^-2 s^-1, representing at least a ten-fold increase over an
observation by the Swift XRT on 2007 August 9 in which the source was
not detected.
