Pre-nova Observations of T CrB: A view from the CHARA Array

arXiv:2606.17272 · astro-ph.SR · Submitted 2026-06-15 · Read on arXiv

Ryan Norris, Narsireddy Anugu, Thomas Gaudin, Magdalena Otulakowska-Hypka, Fabian Kaczmarek, Cameron Caruso, Cody Gustafson, Andrew Kotowski, Rebecca Proni, Nirupam Roy, Fabien Baron, Dipankar P. K Banerjee, Dana K. Baylis-Aguirre, Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, Justin Linford, Alexandre Gallenne, Joanna Mikołajewska, John D. Monnier, Denis Mourard, Ulisse Munari, Nicolas Nardetto, Rachael M. Roettenbacher, Jennifer L Sokoloski, Montana Williams, C. E. Woodward, Stefan Kraus, Jean-Baptiste Le Bouquin, Sorabh Chhabra, Isabelle Codron, Jacob Ennis, Tyler Gardner, Mayra Gutierrez, Noura Ibrahim, Cyprien Lanthermann, Benjamin R. Setterholm, Christopher D. Farrington, Olli Majoinen, Norm Vargas, Douglas R. Gies, Gail H. Schaefer, Theo ten Brummelaar

astro-ph.SR

Submitted: 2026-06-15

Comments: Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. This is the accepted version prior to publisher proofing

Journal ref: ApJL, 1004, L13 (2026)

DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae71d0

Code: https://github.com/amerand/PMOIRED

Project page: https://fabienbaron.github.io/OITOOLS.jl/dev

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: T CrB is a symbiotic recurrent nova consisting of a red giant and white dwarf with recent eruptions in 1866 and 1946 and an anticipated eruption in the mid 2020s.

Terminology

Abstract

T CrB is a symbiotic recurrent nova consisting of a red giant and white dwarf with recent eruptions in 1866 and 1946 and an anticipated eruption in the mid 2020s. We report CHARA Array observations obtained with MIRC-X (H-band) and MYSTIC (K-band) in 2022-2025. We fit limb darkened disk models constrained with literature limb darkening coefficients to the squared visibilities as only the first visibility lobe is sampled. The average limb darkened diameter of the star across these epochs is 0.70 plus or minus0.04 mas in H-band and 0.72 plus or minus0.07 mas in K-band. Adopting a distance of 914+24-22 pc, the stellar radius is 69 plus or minus5 R in H-band and 71 plus or minus8 R in K-band. This is consistent with filling a Roche lobe volume radius of 71 R inferred from published orbital solutions. These measurements provide a pre-eruption angular diameter and support a Roche lobe filling donor.

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