The interoutburst behavior of cataclysmic variables
- Washington, University, Seattle (USA) American Association of Variable Star Observers, Cambridge, MA (USA)
Existing IUE and AAVSO archive data were used to accomplish a large scale study of what happens to the UV flux of accretion disk systems during the quiescent intervals between outbursts, and how it relates to the preceding outburst characteristics of amplitude and width. The data sample involved multiple IUE observations for 16 dwarf novae and 8 novae along with existing optical coverage. Results indicate that most systems show correlated UV flux behavior with interoutburst phase, with 60 percent of the dwarf novae and 50 percent of the novae having decreasing flux trends while 33 percent of the dwarf novae and 38 percent of the novae show rising UV flux during the quiescent interval. All of the dwarf novae with decreasing UV fluxes at 1475 A have orbital periods longer than 4.4 hours, while all (except BV Cen) with flat or rising fluxes at 1475 A have orbital periods less than two hours. From a small sample (7) that have relatively large quiescent V magnitude changes between the IUE observations, most show a strong correlation between the UV and optical continuum. Interpretation of the results is complicated by not being able to determine how much the white dwarf contributes to the ultraviolet flux. However, it is now evident that noticeable changes are occurring in the hot zones in accreting systems long after the outburst, and not only for systems that are dominated by the white dwarf. 25 refs.
- OSTI ID:
- 5666919
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series; (United States), Vol. 76; ISSN 0067-0049
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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GENERAL PHYSICS
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
ACCRETION DISKS
CORRELATIONS
STELLAR RADIATION
WHITE DWARF STARS
DWARF STARS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
RADIATIONS
STARS
VARIABLE STARS
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources