Archival HST study of novae. I. The Seyfert galaxy NGC 3627

Abstract

A V-band nova search was carried out in NGC 3627 with archival Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 data which was obtained in the period between November 1997 and January 1998. A total of four novae candidates were discovered which corresponds to a global nova rate of R = 83.65 +/- 7.58 yr(-1). Taking into account the K-band luminosity obtained from 2MASS (Jarrett et al., 2003) yielded a luminosity specific nova rate (LSNR) of v(K) = 9.60 +/- 1.64 novae per year per 10(10)L(circle dot,K). Excluding one of the candidates which may be a long-period variable leads to a LSNR of v(K) = 7.20 +/- 1.23 novae per year per 10(10)L(circle dot,K). These values are higher than other known nova rates for external galaxies except the Magellanic Clouds. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.