Silicate dust in the environment of RS Ophiuchi following the 2006 eruption

TL;DR

This study reports the detection of silicate dust in RS Ophiuchi's environment after its 2006 eruption, indicating dust survival despite intense radiation and shocks, which impacts understanding of shock propagation and wind structure.

Contribution

It provides the first evidence that silicate dust survives the eruption shocks in RS Ophiuchi, revealing new insights into dust resilience and shock dynamics in nova environments.

Findings

Silicate emission features detected at 9.7 and 18 microns.

Silicate dust survives the eruption shocks.

Implications for shock propagation and wind geometry.

Abstract

We present further Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi, obtained over the period 208-430 days after the 2006 eruption. The later Spitzer IRS data show that the line emission and free-free continuum emission reported earlier is declining, revealing incontrovertible evidence for the presence of silicate emission features at 9.7 and 18microns. We conclude that the silicate dust survives the hard radiation impulse and shock blast wave from the eruption. The existence of the extant dust may have significant implications for understanding the propagation of shocks through the red giant wind and likely wind geometry.