Critical Accretion Flow of Gas onto Compact Stars
Abstract
The critical accretion flow of gas onto compact stars with mass of 0.6M ⊙ is investigated by numerical integrations of the time-dependent hydrodynamic equations in the sphericallysymmetric and optically thick case. For the compact stars surrounded by such a dense cloud of gas, the radiation pressure force decelerates the infall gas significantly and free fall regime of the gas is not at all attained. This results in incident low velocities at the standing shock front close to the stellar surface, low temperatures of the gas around the compact stars, and no X-ray in white dwarfs but soft X-rays in neutron stars, respectively. Some applications of the results to the X-ray sources are discussed.
- Publication:
-
Astrophysics and Space Science
- Pub Date:
- November 1977
- DOI:
- 10.1007/BF00647157
- Bibcode:
- 1977Ap&SS..52...35O
- Keywords:
-
- Gas Flow;
- Optical Thickness;
- Stellar Mass Accretion;
- Neutron Stars;
- Numerical Integration;
- Radiation Pressure;
- Shock Fronts;
- Standing Waves;
- Time Dependence;
- White Dwarf Stars;
- X Rays;
- Astrophysics