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Title: GW LIBRAE: STILL HOT EIGHT YEARS POST-OUTBURST

Journal Article · · Astronomical Journal (Online)
;  [1]; ; ;  [2]; ; ;  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)
  2. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)
  3. AAVSO, 48 Bay State Road, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  4. Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085 (United States)
  5. School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington (New Zealand)

We report continued Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) ultraviolet spectra and ground-based optical photometry and spectroscopy of GW Librae eight years after its largest known dwarf nova outburst in 2007. This represents the longest cooling timescale measured for any dwarf nova. The spectra reveal that the white dwarf still remains about 3000 K hotter than its quiescent value. Both ultraviolet and optical light curves show a short period of 364–373 s, similar to one of the non-radial pulsation periods present for years prior to the outburst, and with a similar large UV/optical amplitude ratio. A large modulation at a period of 2 hr (also similar to that observed prior to outburst) is present in the optical data preceding and during the HST observations, but the satellite observation intervals did not cover the peaks of the optical modulation, and so it is not possible to determine its corresponding UV amplitude. The similarity of the short and long periods to quiescent values implies that the pulsating, fast spinning white dwarf in GW Lib may finally be nearing its quiescent configuration.

OSTI ID:
22662983
Journal Information:
Astronomical Journal (Online), Vol. 152, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English