SOAR spectroscopic classification of Gaia21ejf as a highly reddened classical nova
ATel #14957; A. Kawash, E. Aydi, J. Strader, K. V. Sokolovsky, and L. Chomiuk (MSU)
on 7 Oct 2021; 14:27 UT
Credential Certification: Adam Kawash (kawashad@msu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
We report on spectroscopic follow up of Gaia21ejf, which was reported as a red transient on the rise by Gaia Photometric Science Alerts. So far, there have been only two detections on 2021-09-19.4 and 2021-09-19.5 at G = 18.4 and G = 18.2, respectively. Because of its red color and Galactic position (l,b) = (355.14, 0.04) degrees, we obtained low a resolution spectrum of the transient with the Goodman spectrograph (Clemens et al. 2004, SPIE, 5492, 331) on the 4.1m SOAR telescope on 2020-10-07.1 to identify if this is a highly reddened nova. A total of Av = 20 mag of extinction is predicted in the direction of this transient according to the dust maps of Marshall et al. (2006, A&A, 53, 635). There has been no detection down to g <18 mag at this position by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SNe (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014, ApJ, 788, 48) since it was first detected by Gaia, consistent with a highly reddened transient.
The SOAR spectrum shows a red continuum with emission lines of H I, O I, and Mg II. Halpha is barely resolved due to the high extinction towards the transient. The better resolved emission lines in the redder part of the spectrum show double peaked emissions. The O I lines at 7774 and 8446 are characterized by P Cygni absorptions with blueshifted velocities of around 1500 km/s. The spectrum is that of a highly reddened classical nova near optical peak.
This ATel is based on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia, Inovacoes e Comunicacoes do Brasil (MCTIC/LNA), the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU). We also acknowledge ESA Gaia, DPAC and the Photometric Science Alerts Team (http://gsaweb.ast.cam.ac.uk/alerts).
Gaia21ejf Gaia Alerts Page
