Physical Conditions in the Accretion Disk of V603 Aquilae

Abstract

Ultraviolet and optical spectra of the old nova V603 Aql are discussed. The UV-optical continuum is dominated by emission from the accretion disk. Emission lines from ions of H, He, C, N, and 0 are identified. These lines are probably formed in a circumstellar shell with radius comparable to the binary separation, density ~1010 cm-3, and a roughly solar chemical composition. This corona is probably heated by radiation emitted by the underlying accretion disk. Photoionization calculations of the structure and emission-line spectrum of the corona are presented, and the effects of this gas on the X-ray continuum are discussed

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