Detection of $^7$Be II in the Classical Nova V5669 Sgr (Nova Sagittarii 2015 No.3)

TL;DR

This paper reports the first detection of $^7$Be II in the ultraviolet spectra of the classical nova V5669 Sgr, providing insights into lithium production in novae and its abundance relative to hydrogen.

Contribution

It presents the first identification of $^7$Be II in V5669 Sgr and estimates its abundance, contributing new observational data to nova nucleosynthesis studies.

Findings

Detection of $^7$Be II at specific wavelengths in nova spectra.

Estimated lithium abundance is lower than typical nova values.

No evidence of Li I at 6708 Å was found.

Abstract

We report the new detection of $^7$Be II in the ultraviolet spectra of V5669 Sgr during its early decline phase ($+24$ and $+28$ d). We identified three blue-shifted absorption systems in our spectra. The first two, referred to as low- and high-velocity components, were noticeably identified among H I Balmer, Na I D, and Fe II whose lower energies of transients are low ($<4$ eV). The third absorption component was identified among N II, He I, and C II lines whose lower energy levels are relatively high (9--21 eV). The absorption lines of $^7$Be II at $3130.583$ {\AA}, and $3132.228$ {\AA} were identified as the first and second components in our observations. No evidence suggested the existence of Li I at 6708 {\AA} in any velocity components. The estimated number density ratio of lithium relative to hydrogen, which was finally produced by this object using the equivalent widths of $^7$Be and Ca II K, $N({\rm ^{7}Li})/N({\rm H})_{\rm final}$ is $4.0\pm0.7\times10^{-6}$. This value is an order of magnitude lower than the average observed values for classical novae wherein $^7$Be has been detected, and is comparable to the most optimistic value of theoretical predictions.