XMM-Newton slew survey discovery of the nova XMMSL1 J070542.7-381442 (V598 Puppis)

Free access article

Issue		A&A Volume 482, Number 2, May I 2008


Page(s)		L1 - L4
Section		Letters
DOI		http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200809456
Published online		11 March 2008

A&A 482, L1-L4 (2008)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:200809456

Letter

XMM-Newton slew survey discovery of the nova XMMSL1 J070542.7-381442 (V598 Puppis)

A. M. Read¹, R. D. Saxton², M. A. P. Torres³, P. Esquej⁴, E. Kuulkers², P. G. Jonker^{5, 3}, J. P. Osborne¹, M. J. Freyberg⁴, and P. Challis³

¹ Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Leicester University, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
e-mail: amr30@star.le.ac.uk
² ESA/ESAC, Apartado 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
³ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
⁴ Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁵ SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research, 3584 CA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

(Received 25 January 2008 / Accepted 2 March 2008)

Abstract
Aims. In an attempt to catch new X-ray transients while they are still bright, the data taken by XMM-Newton as it slews between targets are being processed and cross-correlated with other X-ray observations as soon as the slew data appear in the XMM-Newton archive.
Methods. A bright source, XMMSL1 J070542.7-381442, was detected on 9 Oct. 2007 at a position where no previous X-ray source had been seen. The XMM slew data and optical data acquired with the Magellan Clay 6.5 m telescope were used to classify the new object.
Results. No XMM slew X-ray counts are detected above 1 keV and the source is seen to be ~750 times brighter than the ROSAT All-Sky Survey upper limit at that position. The normally $m_{\rm V}$ ~ 16 star, USNO-A2.0 0450-03360039, which lies 3.5'' from the X-ray position, was seen in our Magellan data to be very much enhanced in brightness. Our optical spectrum showed emission lines that identified the source as a nova in the auroral phase; hence, this optical source is undoubtedly the progenitor of the X-ray source - a new nova (now also known as V598 Pup). The X-ray spectrum indicates that the nova was in a super-soft state (with $kT_{\rm eff}$ $\approx$ 35 eV). We estimate the distance to the nova to be ~3 kpc. Analysis of archival robotic optical survey data shows a rapid-decline light curve consistent with what is expected for a very fast nova.
Conclusions. The XMM-Newton slew data present a powerful opportunity to find new X-ray transient objects while they are still bright. Here we present the first such source discovered by the analysis of near real-time slew data.

Key words: stars: novae, cataclysmic variables -- stars: individual: V598 Puppis -- surveys -- X-rays: general

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