A Spectroscopic Study of the Cataclysmic Binary Star SU Ursae Majoris
Abstract
The authors report spectroscopic observations of SU UMa, the prototype of a class of short-period cataclysmic binaries. From Hα radial velocity observations, they find the orbital period to be 0.076351±4.3×10-5days (= 110 minutes). They also present an analysis of high-quality spectrograms from the Hale 5 m telescope and double spectrograph. The velocity amplitude of the emission line source is 58±4 km s-1, leading to a mass function ≡1.5×10-3M_sun;. The velocity widths of the Balmer series increase toward higher members of the series, which suggests that pressure broadening may contribute nonnegligibly to the emission line widths.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- October 1986
- DOI:
- 10.1086/164641
- Bibcode:
- 1986ApJ...309..721T
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Spectroscopy;
- Cataclysmic Variables;
- Dwarf Novae;
- Stellar Spectra;
- Continuous Spectra;
- Ephemerides;
- H Alpha Line;
- H Beta Line;
- Line Spectra;
- Radial Velocity;
- Stellar Orbits;
- Astrophysics