When does an old nova become a dwarf nova? Kinematics and age of the nova shell of the dwarf nova AT Cnc

The Z Cam-type dwarf nova AT Cnc displays a classical nova (CN) shell, demonstrating that mass transfer in cataclysmic binaries decreases substantially after a CN eruption. The hibernation scenario of cataclysmic binaries predicts such a decrease, on a timescale of a few centuries. In order to measure the time since AT Cnc's last CN eruption, we have measured the radial velocities of a hundred clumps in its ejecta with SITELLE, CFHT's recently commissioned imaging Fourier transform spectrometer. These range from -455 to +490 km/s. Coupled with the known distance to AT Cnc of 460 pc (Shara 2012), the size of AT Cnc's shell, and a simple model of nova ejecta deceleration, we determine that the last CN eruption of this system occurred $330_{-90}^{+135}$ years ago. This is the most rapid transition from a high mass transfer rate, novalike variable to a low mass transfer rate, dwarf nova yet measured, and in accord with the hibernation scenario of cataclysmic binaries. We conclude by noting the similarity in deduced outburst date (within a century of 1686 CE) of AT Cnc with a "guest star" reported in the constellation Cancer by Korean observers in 1645 CE.

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