Letter to the Editor

CO bands in V4334 Sgr (Sakurai's Object): The C/C ratio

¹ Main Astronomical Observatory, Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine, Golosiiv Woods, Kyiv-127, 03680 Ukraine
² Gemini Observatory, 670 N. A'ohoku Place, Hilo, Hi 96720, USA
³ Astrophysics Group, School of Chemistry & Physics, Keele University, Keele Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK
⁴ Centre for Astrophysics, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire PR1 2HE, UK

Corresponding author: Ya. V. Pavlenko, yp@mao.kiev.ua

Received: 19 January 2004
Accepted: 26 February 2004

Abstract

We present the results of our analysis of a high resolution () infrared spectrum of V4334 Sgr (Sakurai's Object) around the first overtone CO bands, obtained in 1998 July. The ¹²CO and ¹³CO bands are well-resolved, and we compute synthetic hydrogen-deficient model atmosphere spectra to determine the ¹²C/¹³C ratio. We find ¹²C/¹³C  4 ± 1, consistent with the interpretation of V4334 Sgr as an object that has undergone a very late thermal pulse.