Atypical Dust Species in the Ejecta of Classical Novae

Abstract

A classical nova outburst arises from a thermonuclear run- away in the hydrogen-rich material accreted onto the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system. These explosions can produce copious amounts of heavy element enriched material that are ejected violently into the surrounding interstellar medium. In some novae, conditions in the ejecta are suitable for the formation of dust of various compositions, including silicates, amorphous carbon, silicon carbide, and hydrocar- bons. Multiple dust grain types are sometimes produced in the same system. CO formation in novae may not reach saturation, thus in- validating the usual paradigm in which the C:O ratio determines the dust species. A few novae, such as V705 Cas and DZ Cru, have ex- hibited emission features near 6, 8, and 11 µm that are similar to "Unidentified Infrared" (UIR) features, but with significant differences in position and band structure. Here, we present Spitzer IRS spectra of two recent dusty novae, V2361 Cyg and V2362 Cyg, that harbor similar peculiar emission structures superimposed on features arising from carbonaceous grains. In other astronomical objects, such as star forming regions and young stellar objects, emission peaks at 6.2, 7.7, and 11.3 µm have been associated with polycyclic aromatic hydro- carbon (PAH) complexes. We suggest that hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC) may be the source of these features in novae based upon the spectral behavior of the emission features and the conditions under which the dust formed.