CO Fundamental and First Overtone Emission in the Nova V496 Scuti

Abstract

Simultaneous spectroscopic observations of the carbon monoxide (CO) fundamental and first overtone emission are presented for the nova V496 Scuti. Total emission is comparable in the two features, indicating that optically thick conditions (optical depth τ ≈ 100) exist in the fundamental. Analysis of the first overtone suggests a temperature for the CO emitting region of ≥4000 K and a 13C to 12C ratio of 0.7 ± 0.1. Concurrent observations by Raj et al., found emission lines of C i and O i present at this time, indicating that carbon monoxide formation did not fully incorporate either of these two elements.