Discovery of a 25 parsec-long precessing jet emanating from the old nova GK Persei

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a highly resolved, 25-parsec-long precessing jet from the old nova GK Persei, revealing new insights into jet structures and their origins in nova systems.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed imaging and analysis of a large-scale, precessing jet from a nova, expanding understanding of jet formation and evolution in such systems.

Findings

Jet length exceeds 25 parsecs.

Jet precesses with a ~3600-year period.

Jet's energy likely from accretion shocks near magnetic poles.

Abstract

Classical nova eruptions result from thermonuclear-powered runaways in, and ejection of, the hydrogen-rich envelopes of white dwarf stars accreted from their close binary companions. Novae brighten to up to 1,000,000 solar luminosities, and recur thousands of times over their lifetimes spanning several billion years. Between eruptions, mass transfer from the donor star to the white dwarf proceeds via an accretion disk unless the white dwarf possesses a strong magnetic field which can partially or totally disrupt the disk. In that case, accretion is focussed by the white dwarf's magnetic field towards its magnetic poles. Optical spectroscopy and interferometric radio maps demonstrate the presence of bipolar jets, typically arcsec in angular size, and orders of magnitude smaller than one parsec in linear size, during the days to months after nova eruptions. These jets expel collimated matter from the white dwarfs in nova binary stars, but well-resolved images of them are lacking. Here we report the Condor telescope's detection of a hitherto unknown, highly resolved and braided jet, three degrees (at least 25 parsecs) in length. The jet originates at the white dwarf of the old nova GK Persei (nova Per 1901 CE). It precesses on a ~ 3600 yr timescale, and must be at least 7200 years old. Detected across four decades of wavelength, the jet's ultimate energy source is likely the strong accretion shocks near the white dwarf's magnetic poles.