Spectroscopic observations of V455 Andromedae superoutburst in 2007: The most exotic spectral features in dwarf nova outbursts

Abstract

Abstract We present our spectroscopic observations of V455 Andromedae during the 2007 superoutburst. Our observations cover this superoutburst from around the optical peak of the outburst to the post-superoutburst stage. During the early superhump phase, the emission lines of the Balmer series, He i, He ii, Bowen blend, and C iv/N iv blend were detected. The He ii 4686 line exhibited a double-peaked emission profile, where Balmer emission lines were single-peaked, which is unexpected from its high inclination. In the ordinary superhump phase, the Balmer series transitioned to double-peaked emission profiles, and high-ionization lines were significantly weakened. These transitions of the line profiles should be related to the structural transformation of the accretion disk, as expected between the early and ordinary superhump transition in the thermal–tidal instability model. The Doppler map of Hα during the early superhump phase exhibits a compact blob centered at the primary white dwarf. In analogy to SW Sex-type cataclysmic variables, this feature could emerge from the disk wind and/or the mass accretion column on to the magnetized white dwarf. The Doppler map of He ii 4686 Å is dominated by the ring-like structure and imposed two flaring regions with the velocity of ∼300 km s−1, which is too slow for a Keplerian accretion disk. The phase of the flaring regions was coincident with the inner spiral arm structure identified during the early superhump phase. Our disk wind model with the enhanced emission from the wind component launched from the inner arm structure successfully reproduced the observed properties of He ii 4686 Å. Therefore, V455 And is the first case in dwarf nova outbursts where the presence of the disk wind is inferred from an optical spectrum.