Complex velocity fields in the shell of T pyxidis

We present spatially resolved, moderate-resolution spectrophotometry of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis and a portion of the surrounding shell. The spectrum extracted from a strip of width 10″ centered on the star shows well-known, strong emission lines typical of old novae plus a prominent, unfamiliar emission line at 6590 Å. This line, and a weaker companion at 6540 Å, which we also detect, has been previously reported by Shahbaz et al. and attributed to Doppler-shifted Hα emission from a collimated jet emerging from T Pyx. We demonstrate that these lines are instead due to [N II] λλ6548, 6584 from a complex velocity field in the surrounding nebula. The comments of past workers concerning the great strength of He n λ4686 in T Pyx itself are also reiterated.