201 research outputs found
The anomalous accretion disk of the Cataclysmic Variable RW Sextantis
Synthetic spectra covering the wavelength range 900\AA~to 3000\AA~provide an
accurate fit, established by a analysis, to a combined
observed spectrum of RW Sextantis. Two separately calibrated distances to the
system establish the synthetic spectrum comparison on an absolute flux basis
but with two alternative scaling factors, requiring alternative values of
for final models. Based on comparisons for a range of
values, the observed spectrum does not follow the standard model. Rather than
the exponent 0.25 in the expression for the radial temperature profile, a value
close to 0.125 produces a synthetic spectrum with an accurate fit to the
combined spectrum. A study of time-series spectra shows that a proposed
warped or tilted disk is not supported by the data; an alternative proposal is
that an observed non-axisymmetric wind results from an interaction with the
mass transfer stream debris.Comment: 56 pages, 15 figures, 11 tables. Accepted for The Astrophysical
Journa
The Amazing Old Nova Q Cygni: A Far Ultraviolet Synthetic Spectral Analysis
Q Cygni (Nova Cygni 1876) is the third oldest old novae (after WY Sge and
V841 Oph) with a long orbital period of 10.08 hours and spectroscopic
peculiarities in the optical including the presence of variable wind outflow
revealed by optical P Cygni profiles in the HeI lines and H alpha beta (Kafka
et al. 2003). We have carried out a synthetic spectral analysis of a far
ultraviolet IUE archival spectrum of Q Cygni using our optically thick, steady
state, accretion disk models and model white dwarf photospheres. We find that
the accretion light of a luminous accretion disk dominates the FUV flux of the
hot component with a rate of accretion 2-3 1.E-9 Msun/yr. We find that Q Cygni
lies at a distance of 741 \pm 110 pc . The implications of our results for
theoretical predictions for old novae are presented.Comment: PASP, August 201
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