Formation of a disk-structure and jets in the symbiotic prototype Z And during its 2006-2010 active phase

TL;DR

This study analyzes spectrophotometric data of Z And during its 2006-2010 active phase, revealing the formation of a disk-like pseudophotosphere and bipolar jets, with detailed estimates of temperature, density, and spectral features.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the disk-structure formation and jet ejection mechanisms in symbiotic binaries during active phases.

Findings

Presence of a cool pseudophotosphere (5250-11500 K) during activity

Detection of bipolar jets with velocities up to 1800 km/s

Correlation between system brightness and gas density variations

Abstract

We present an analysis of spectrophotometric observations of the latest cycle of activity of the symbiotic binary Z And from 2006 to 2010. We estimate the temperature of the hot component of Z And to be \approx 150000 - 170000 K at minimum brightness, decreasing to \approx 90000 K at the brightness maximum. Our estimate of the electron density in the gaseous nebula is N_{e}=10^{10}-10^{12} cm^{-3} in the region of formation of lines of neutral helium and 10^6-10^7 cm^{-3} in the region of formation of the [OIII] and [NeIII] nebular lines. A trend for the gas density derived from helium lines to increase and the gas density derived from [OIII] and [NeIII] lines to simultaneously decrease with increasing brightness of the system was observed. Our estimates show that the ratios of the theoretical and observed fluxes in the [OIII] and [NeIII] lines agree best when the O/Ne ratio is similar to its value for planetary nebulae. The model spectral energy distribution showed that, in addition to a cool component and gaseous nebula, a relatively cool pseudophotosphere (5250-11 500 K) is present in the system. The simultaneous presence of a relatively cool pseudophotosphere and high-ionization spectral lines is probably related to a disk-like structure of the pseudophotosphere. The pseudophotosphere formed very rapidly, over several weeks, during a period of increasing brightness of Z And. We infer that in 2009, as in 2006, the activity of the system was accompanied by a collimated bipolar ejection of matter. In contrast to the situation in 2006, the jets were detected even before the system reached its maximum brightness. Moreover, components with velocities close to 1200 km/s disappeared at the maximum, while those with velocities close to 1800 km/s appeared.