Accretion Heating and Thermonuclear Runaways on the Surfaces of Iron White Dwarfs
Abstract
Accretion onto and nova events on the surface of a degenerate cold one-solar-mass iron white dwarf are investigated. It is found that, during accretion, hydrogen diffuses deeper into the core than its CNO catalysts, suggesting that the thermonuclear runaway occurs not at the innermost radius achieved by the hydrogen but farther out where the CNO abundance is high. No mass is shown to be ejected for an accretion rate of 10 to the -9th solar masses/yr.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- April 1989
- DOI:
- 10.1086/167355
- Bibcode:
- 1989ApJ...339.1013P
- Keywords:
-
- Iron;
- Novae;
- Stellar Mass Accretion;
- Thermonuclear Reactions;
- White Dwarf Stars;
- Abundance;
- Heating;
- Nuclear Fusion;
- Stellar Models;
- Stellar Temperature;
- Astrophysics;
- STARS: ABUNDANCES;
- STARS: ACCRETION;
- STARS: INTERIORS;
- STARS: NOVAE;
- NUCLEOSYNTHESIS