Dust Formation in Common Envelope Binary Interactions — III. Lightcurves

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ID: 339526
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Luminous red novae are transient events thought to arise from common envelope binary interactions. In this paper, we perform post-processing light-curve calculations for two, 3D hydrodynamic simulations of common envelope events between 1.7 M⊙ and 3.7 M⊙ asymptotic giant branch stars and a 0.6 M⊙ compact companion, simulated for 44 years under adiabatic conditions, with dust nucleation included. In both our simulations, we observe a bright, hot peak lasting 3–5 years, primarily due to photospheric expansion before and during inspiral. Additional peaks appear for different viewing angles due to the interaction’s asymmetry. Dust forms about 1–3 years after the beginning of the simulated interaction, and shortly afterwards, followed by a partial recovery and a plateau with a colour temperature of ~400 K. The dust photosphere reaches a size of ~250 au by the end of the simulations, but would become optically thin at visible wavelengths in 2000–6000 years, revealing an inner, warmer photosphere. Our results are most reliable around the time of peak and the immediate light decline; outside this window, they remain largely qualitative due to two well-quantified but substantial uncertainties—insufficient surface resolution in the first 1–2 years and the adiabatic assumption in the later years. We finally contextualise our simulations within a group of observed luminous red nova transients, drawing particular attention to the outburst of OGLE-2002-BLG-360 and AT 2025abao, which are the only two luminous red novae to date understood to be the interaction of a companion with low-to-intermediate-mass giant stars.
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Authors 穆春良, Orsola De Marco, Luis C. Bermúdez-Bustamante, Ryosuke Hirai, Daniel J. Price, L. Siess, Miguel González-Bolívar, Mike Y. M. Lau, N. Blagorodnova
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Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag2128
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag2128
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