Comprehensive listing of 156 reliable orbital periods for novae, including 49 new periods

Abstract

ABSTRACT I report on a large-scale search for the orbital periods (P) of most known nova systems, by looking for significant, coherent, and stable optical photometric modulation in two or more independent light curves taken mostly from the large surveys of TESS, Kepler, AAVSO, SMARTS, OGLE, ASAS, and ZTF. I have discovered 31 new orbital periods. Further, I have measured new periods for 18 novae with evolved companions, to 30 per cent accuracy, as based on their spectral energy distribution. Also, I have confirmed, improved, and rejected prior claims for P in 46 novae. (As part of this effort, I recognize that 5 novae display 1–3 coherent, significant, and transient periodicities 0.12–4.1 d, with these being mysterious as not being the orbital, spin, or superhump periods). In all, I have compiled a comprehensive list of 156 reliable P values for novae. The histogram of nova periods shows a minimum P at 0.059 h (85 min), and a Period Gap from 0.071 to 0.111 d (1.70–2.66 h). The upper edge of the Period Gap is significantly different between novae (0.111 d), nova-like systems (0.131 d), and dwarf novae (0.141 d). A further issue from the histogram is that 31 per cent of nova systems have evolved companions, for which there has been no models or understanding for their current state or evolution. For the novae with red giant companions, 15-out-of-20 are in the bulge population, despite novae with main-sequence and subgiant companions having bulge fractions near 0.11–0.32.