156 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
Bahya Ibn Pakuda, Tutor of Hearts
This essay examines the philosophical and scholastic threads woven through Bahya Ibn Pakuda\u27s An Introduction to the Duties of Hearts
White Dwarfs: Cosmological and Galactic Probes
The emphasis on white dwarf stars and cosmology arises from the most recent advances in cosmological and galactic structure research in which white dwarf stars are playing a very prominent role. Examples are Type Ia supernovae (i.e. white dwarf supernovae), the origin and evolution of the universe, the age of the galactic disk, cosmochronology using white dwarfs in globular clusters and galactic clusters, and the physics of accretion onto compact (very dense) stars. As an assisting guide to the reader, we have included, by invitation, comprehensive review articles in each of the four major areas of the book, white dwarf supernovae, cosmology, accretion physics and galactic structure. The reviews include introductory material that they build upon. The book is suitable and most useful to advanced undergraduates, graduate students and scientific professionals (e.g. astronomers, astrophysicists, cosmologists, physicists)
HST Spectra of GW Librae: A Hot Pulsating White Dwarf in a Cataclysmic Variable
We have obtained Hubble Space Telescope UV spectra of the white dwarf in GW
Lib, the only known non-radially pulsating white dwarf in a cataclysmic
variable, and the first known DAZQ variable. The UV light curve reveals large
amplitude (10%) pulsationsin the UV with the same periods (646, 376 and 237 s)
as those seen at optical wavelengths, but the mean spectrum fits with an
average white dwarf temperature (14,700K for a 0.6M_{odot} white dwarf) that is
too hot to be in the normal instability strip for ZZ Ceti stars. A better fit
is achieved with a dual temperature model (with 63% of the white dwarf surface
at a temperature of 13300K and 37% at 17100K), and a higher mass (0.8M_{odot})
white dwarf with 0.1 solar metal abundance. Since the blue edge of the
instability strip moves to higher temperature with increasing mass, the lower
temperature of this model is within the instability strip. However, the
presence of accretion likely causes abundance and atmospheric temperature
differences in GW Lib compared to all known single white dwarf pulsators, and
the current models that have been capable of explaining ZZ Ceti stars may not
apply.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
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