IUE Observations of the Dwarf Nova HL Canis Majoris and the Winds of Cataclysmic Variables
Abstract
In order to investigate the nature of the winds of cataclysmic variables the authors present an observational and theoretical study of the P Cygni profiles of these systems, giving particular attention to the profiles of the dwarf nova HL CMa. After presenting the IUE observations of HL CMa, the authors give the results of a synthetic spectral code, which is used to assist in the interpretation of the ultraviolet data and to place constraints on the mass accretion rate through the disk during outburst. Theoretical P Cygni profiles are developed, and profiles are presented for various inclinations, velocity laws, and mass-loss rates under the assumptions of a spherically symmetric wind originating near the white dwarf and of a constant ionization fraction in the wind. As the results concerning the mass-loss rate and the character of the P Cygni profiles depend intimately on the true ionization structure of the wind, the authors consider a model of a shocked wind for cataclysmic variables analogous to current models of the winds of early-type stars.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 1987
- DOI:
- 10.1086/165865
- Bibcode:
- 1987ApJ...323..690M
- Keywords:
-
- Cataclysmic Variables;
- Dwarf Stars;
- Iue;
- Novae;
- Stellar Winds;
- Accretion Disks;
- Light Curve;
- Line Spectra;
- Tables (Data);
- Ultraviolet Radiation;
- Astrophysics