V694 Mon: A Recent Event of Mass Transfer in the Dynamical Mode

The phenomenon of runaway mass transfers between components of binary systems on a dynamical timescale has been theoretically predicted. However, this phenomenon has been observed for the first time in the history of astronomy just now in a symbiotic system V694 Mon. We employed medium- and high-dispersion spectroscopy, along with multicolor photometry, to study this event in detail. Over 6 years, beginning in 2018, we observed the cessation of disk accretion, the filling of the accretor’s Roche lobe, and the subsequent formation of an A-type star within it. The pulsating envelope of the M giant donor was transferred to the accretor down to its base. Thus, the products from the hydrogen-burning layer appeared on the donor’s surface, and a flash of an emission-line spectrum enriched with s-process elements was detected. We discuss discrepancies between theoretical predictions and observations, as well as other phenomena potentially related to dynamical mass transfer.