Swift observations of CSS081007:030559+054715

Abstract

CSS081007:030559+054715 was discovered by the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey. Optical spectroscopy revealed a multi-peaked Ha emission line profile with radial velocities exceeding 1500 km/s, as well as strong Ne emission, suggestive of a neon nova. We monitored the source extensively with the Swift satellite, obtaining a unique dataset spanning 270 days in the soft X-ray and UV bands. The data reveal a soft, blackbody-like spectrum with a temperature around 55 eV (though dependent on the modelling), variable X-ray and UV light curves with a 1.77 day period in both the X-ray and UV bands, a longer timescale modulation of similar to 50 days, followed by a slowly declining trend in the soft X-ray and UV flux. We highlight the Swift observations and their implications for the SSS nature of this object. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim