Extending emission line Doppler tomography ; mapping modulated line flux

Emission line Doppler tomography is a powerful tool that resolves the accretion flow in binaries on micro-arcsecond scales using time-resolved spectroscopy. I present an extension to Doppler tomography that relaxes one of its fundamental axioms and permits the mapping of time-dependent emission sources. Significant variability on the orbital period is a common characteristic of the emission sources that are observed in the accretion flows of cataclysmic variables and X-ray binaries. Modulation Doppler tomography maps sources varying harmonically as a function of the orbital period through the simultaneous reconstruction of three Doppler tomograms. One image describes the average flux distribution like in standard tomography, while the two additional images describe the variable component in terms of its sine and cosine amplitudes. I describe the implementation of such an extension in the form of the maximum entropy based fitting code MODMAP. Test reconstructions of synthetic data illustrate that the technique is robust and well constrained. Artifact free reconstructions of complex emission distributions can be achieved under a wide range of signal to noise levels. An application of the technique is illustrated by mapping the orbital modulations of the asymmetric accretion disc emission in the dwarf nova IP Pegasi.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA

Phase-resolved high-resolution spectrophotometry of the eclipsing polar HU Aquarii

We present phase-resolved spectroscopy of the bright, eclipsing polar HU Aqr obtained with high time (~30sec) and spectral (1.6 A) resolution when the system was in a high accretion state. The trailed spectrograms reveal clearly the presence of three different line components with different width and radial velocity variation. By means of Doppler tomography their origin could be located unequivocally (a) on the secondary star, (b) the ballistic part of the accretion stream (horizontal stream), and (c) the magnetically funnelled part of the stream (vertical stream). For the first time we were able to derive a (near-)complete map of the stream in a polar. We propose to use Doppler tomography of AM Herculis stars as a new tool for the mass determination of these binaries. This method, however, still needs to be calibrated by an independent method. The asymmetric light curve of the narrow emission line originating on the mass-donating companion star reveals evidence for significant shielding of 60% of the leading hemisphere by the gas between the two stars

RR Lyrae Stars In The GCVS Observed By The Qatar Exoplanet Survey

We used the light curve archive of the Qatar Exoplanet Survey (QES) to investigate the RR Lyrae variable stars listed in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS). Of 588 variables studied, we reclassify 14 as eclipsing binaries, one as an RS Canum Venaticorum-type variable, one as an irregular variable, four as classical Cepheids, and one as a type II Cepheid, while also improving their periods. We also report new RR Lyrae sub-type classifications for 65 variables and improve on the GCVS period estimates for 135 RR Lyrae variables. There are seven double-mode RR Lyrae stars in the sample for which we measured their fundamental and first overtone periods. Finally, we detect the Blazhko effect in 38 of the RR Lyrae stars for the first time and we successfully measured the Blazhko period for 26 of them.Comment: Accepted IBV

Estimating Be Star Disk Radii using H-alpha Emission Equivalent Widths

We present numerical models of the circumstellar disks of Be stars, and we describe the resulting synthetic H-alpha emission lines and maps of the wavelength-integrated emission flux projected onto the sky. We demonstrate that there are monotonic relationships between the emission line equivalent width and the ratio of the angular half-width at half maximum of the projected disk major axis to the radius of the star. These relationships depend mainly upon the temperatures of the disk and star, the inclination of the disk normal to the line of sight, and the adopted outer boundary for the disk radius. We show that the predicted H-alpha disk radii are consistent with those observed directly through long baseline interferometry of nearby Be stars (especially once allowance is made for disk truncation in binaries and for dilution of the observed H-alpha equivalent width by continuum disk flux in the V-band).Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, ApJL in pres

A search for starlight reflected from HD 75289 b

We have used a doppler tomographic analysis to conduct a deep search for the starlight reflected from the planetary companion to HD 75289. In 4 nights on VLT2/UVES in January 2003, we obtained 684 high resolution echelle spectra with a total integration time of 26 hours. We establish an upper limit on the planet's geometric albedo p < 0.12 (to the 99.9% significance level) at the most probable orbital inclination i ~ 60 degrees, assuming a grey albedo, a Venus-like phase function and a planetary radius R_p = 1.6 R_Jup. We are able to rule out some combinations of the predicted planetary radius and atmospheric albedo models with high, reflective cloud decks.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, MNRAS accepted 12 Oct 200

The Quiescent Spectrum of the AM CVn star CP Eri

We used the 6.5m MMT to obtain a spectrum of the AM CVn star CP Eri in quiescence. The spectrum is dominated by He I emission lines, which are clearly double peaked with a peak-to-peak separation of ~1900 km/s. The spectrum is similar to that of the longer period AM CVn systems GP Com and CE 315, linking the short and the long period AM CVn systems. In contrast with GP Com and CE 315, the spectrum of CP Eri does not show a central 'spike' in the line profiles, but it does show lines of SiII in emission. The presence of these lines indicates that the material being transferred is of higher metallicity than in GP Com and CE 315, which, combined with the low proper motion of the system, probably excludes a halo origin of the progenitor of CP Eri. We constrain the primary mass to M_1>0.27 M_sun and the orbital inclination to 33 degr < i < 80 degr. The presence of the He I lines in emission opens up the possibility for phase resolved spectroscopic studies which allows a determination of the system parameters and a detailed study of helium accretion disks under highly varying circumstances.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Charged Dilaton Black Holes with a Cosmological Constant

The properties of static spherically symmetric black holes, which are either electrically or magnetically charged, and which are coupled to the dilaton in the presence of a cosmological constant, are considered. It is shown that such solutions do not exist if the cosmological constant is positive (in arbitrary spacetime dimension >= 4). However, asymptotically anti-de Sitter black hole solutions with a single horizon do exist if the cosmological constant is negative. These solutions are studied numerically in four dimensions and the thermodynamic properties of the solutions are derived. The extreme solutions are found to have zero entropy and infinite temperature for all non-zero values of the dilaton coupling constant.Comment: 12 pages, epsf, phyzzx, 4 in-text figures incl. (minor typos fixed, 1 reference added