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 ${\chi}_{\nu}^2$ 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 $\dot{M}$ for final models. Based on comparisons for a range of $\dot{M}$ 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 $FUSE$ 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