22Na and 26Al production in nova outbursts

Abstract

The consequences of accretion of hydrogen rich material onto ONeMg white dwarfs with masses of 1.0, 1.25, and 1.35 M ⊙ are examined. Our results demonstrate that novae produce both 22na and 26Al in astrophysically interesting amounts. Hot hydrogen burning on ONeMg white dwarfs can produce as much as 2% of the ejected material as 26Al and 3% as 22Na. The largest amount of 22Na is produced by the highest mass ONeMg white dwarf nova systems which are predicted to be the fastest and most luminous of all types of nova. The largest amount of 26Al is produced in the lowest mass white dwarfs, which according to our evolutionary calculations, should eject the largest amount of material. In support of this prediction, the observations of QU Vul, a slow ONeMg nova, indicate that it has ejected about 10 −3 M ⊙. However, such a large amount of ejected mass is inconsistent with a typical ONeMg white dwarf mass > 1.25 M ⊙.