VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo?
We report the serendipitous discovery of VVV-WIT-12, an unusual variable source that seems to induce variability in its surrounding nebula. The source belongs to the rare objects that we call WITs (short for What Is This?) discovered within the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey. VVV-WIT...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad07e6 |
| _version_ | 1797627900626731008 |
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| author | Roberto K. Saito Bringfried Stecklum Dante Minniti Philip W. Lucas Zhen Guo Leigh C. Smith Luciano Fraga Felipe Navarete Juan Carlos Beamín Calum Morris |
| author_facet | Roberto K. Saito Bringfried Stecklum Dante Minniti Philip W. Lucas Zhen Guo Leigh C. Smith Luciano Fraga Felipe Navarete Juan Carlos Beamín Calum Morris |
| author_sort | Roberto K. Saito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We report the serendipitous discovery of VVV-WIT-12, an unusual variable source that seems to induce variability in its surrounding nebula. The source belongs to the rare objects that we call WITs (short for What Is This?) discovered within the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey. VVV-WIT-12 was discovered during a pilot search for light echoes from distant supernovae in the Milky Way using the near-IR images of the VVV survey. This source has an extremely red spectral energy distribution, consistent with a very reddened ( A _V ∼ 100 mag) long-period variable star ( P ∼ 1525 days). Furthermore, it is enshrouded in a nebula that changes brightness and color with time, apparently in sync with the central source variations. The near-IR light curve and complementary follow-up spectroscopy observations are consistent with a variable young stellar object illuminating its surrounding nebula. In this case the source periodic variation along the cycles produces an unprecedented light echo in the different regions of the nebula. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:31:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cbb3f3e81b7d47de9b02668b81f1e5f2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:31:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-cbb3f3e81b7d47de9b02668b81f1e5f22023-11-14T19:17:46ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019581L110.3847/2041-8213/ad07e6VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo?Roberto K. Saito0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6878-8648Bringfried Stecklum1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6091-163XDante Minniti2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7064-099XPhilip W. Lucas3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8872-4462Zhen Guo4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0292-4832Leigh C. Smith5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3259-2771Luciano Fraga6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0680-1979Felipe Navarete7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0284-0578Juan Carlos Beamín8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8409-6534Calum Morris9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7535-7077Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina , Trindade 88040-900, Florianópolis, BrazilThüringer Landessternwarte , Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, GermanyDepartamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina , Trindade 88040-900, Florianópolis, Brazil; Instituto de Astrofísica, Dep. de Ciencias Físicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Andres Bello , Av. Fernández Concha 700, Santiago, Chile; Vatican Observatory , V00120 Vatican City State, ItalyCentre for Astrophysics, University of Hertfordshire , College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UKInstituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso , ave. Gran Bretaña, 1111, Casilla 5030, Valparaíso, Chile; Núcleo Milenio de Formación Planetaria (NPF) , ave. Gran Bretaña, 1111, Casilla 5030, Valparaíso, Chile; Departamento de Física, Universidad Tecnicá Federico Santa María , ave. España 1680, Valparaíso, ChileInstitute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UKLaboratorio Nacional de Astrofísica LNA/MCTI , 37504-364 Itajubá, MG, BrazilSOAR Telescope/NSF’s NOIRLab , Avda Juan Cisternas 1500, 1700000, La Serena, ChileInstituto de Astrofísica, Dep. de Ciencias Físicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Andres Bello , Av. Fernández Concha 700, Santiago, ChileCentre for Astrophysics, University of Hertfordshire , College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UKWe report the serendipitous discovery of VVV-WIT-12, an unusual variable source that seems to induce variability in its surrounding nebula. The source belongs to the rare objects that we call WITs (short for What Is This?) discovered within the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey. VVV-WIT-12 was discovered during a pilot search for light echoes from distant supernovae in the Milky Way using the near-IR images of the VVV survey. This source has an extremely red spectral energy distribution, consistent with a very reddened ( A _V ∼ 100 mag) long-period variable star ( P ∼ 1525 days). Furthermore, it is enshrouded in a nebula that changes brightness and color with time, apparently in sync with the central source variations. The near-IR light curve and complementary follow-up spectroscopy observations are consistent with a variable young stellar object illuminating its surrounding nebula. In this case the source periodic variation along the cycles produces an unprecedented light echo in the different regions of the nebula.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad07e6Variable starsStellar oscillationsGalaxy stellar contentSky surveys |
| spellingShingle | Roberto K. Saito Bringfried Stecklum Dante Minniti Philip W. Lucas Zhen Guo Leigh C. Smith Luciano Fraga Felipe Navarete Juan Carlos Beamín Calum Morris VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo? The Astrophysical Journal Letters Variable stars Stellar oscillations Galaxy stellar content Sky surveys |
| title | VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo? |
| title_full | VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo? |
| title_fullStr | VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo? |
| title_full_unstemmed | VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo? |
| title_short | VVV-WIT-12 and Its Fashionable Nebula: A 4 yr Long-period Young Stellar Object with a Light Echo? |
| title_sort | vvv wit 12 and its fashionable nebula a 4 yr long period young stellar object with a light echo |
| topic | Variable stars Stellar oscillations Galaxy stellar content Sky surveys |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad07e6 |
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