The mass of the white dwarf in the recurrent nova U Scorpii

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 327; no. 4; pp. 1323 - 1333
• Main Authors: Thoroughgood, T.D., Dhillon, V.S., Littlefair, S.P., Marsh, T.R., Smith, D.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 11.11.2001
• Subjects: accretion; accretion discs; accretion, accretion discs; binaries: eclipsing; binaries: spectroscopic; cataclysmic variables; novae; novae, cataclysmic variables; stars: individual: U Sco
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04828.x

We present spectroscopy of the eclipsing recurrent nova U Sco. The radial velocity semi-amplitude of the primary star was found to be from the motion of the wings of the He iiλ4686-Å emission line. By detecting weak absorption features from the secondary star, we find its radial velocity semi-amplitude to be . From these parameters, we obtain a mass of for the white dwarf primary star and a mass of for the secondary star. The radius of the secondary is calculated to be , confirming that it is evolved. The inclination of the system is calculated to be , consistent with the deep eclipse seen in the light-curves. The helium emission lines are double-peaked, with the blueshifted regions of the disc being eclipsed prior to the redshifted regions, clearly indicating the presence of an accretion disc. The high mass of the white dwarf is consistent with the thermonuclear runaway model of recurrent nova outbursts, and confirms that U Sco is the best Type Ia supernova progenitor currently known. We predict that U Sco is likely to explode within ∼700 000 yr.