FERMI-LAT GAMMA-RAY DETECTIONS OF CLASSICAL NOVAE V1369 CENTAURI 2013 AND V5668 SAGITTARII 2015

Abstract

We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detections of high-energy (>100 MeV) γ -ray emission from two recent optically bright classical novae, V1369 Centauri 2013 and V5668 Sagittarii 2015. At early times, Fermi target-of-opportunity observations prompted by their optical discoveries provided enhanced LAT exposure that enabled the detections of γ -ray onsets beginning ∼2 days after their first optical peaks. Significant γ -ray emission was found extending to 39–55 days after their initial LAT detections, with systematically fainter and longer-duration emission compared to previous γ -ray-detected classical novae. These novae were distinguished by multiple bright optical peaks that encompassed the time spans of the observed γ -rays. The γ -ray light curves and spectra of the two novae are presented along with representative hadronic and leptonic models, and comparisons with other novae detected by the LAT are discussed.