Reconstruction of the accretion disk in six cataclysmic variable stars.
Abstract
The maximum-entropy eclipse-mapping algorithm is used to reconstruct images of the accretion disks of the novalike variable stars RW Tri, UX UMa, SW Sex, LX Ser, V 1315 Aql, and V363 Aur. The 2D disk intensity maps deduced from the light curves reveal the size of the disk and its radial intensity dependence. Black-body temperature maps deduced from the intensity maps at different wavelengths show that the disks in RW Tri, UX UMa, and V363 Aur have a radial temperature dependence which closely matches the fundamental theoretical run of the effective temperature with radial distance from disk center: T(eff) varies as R exp -3/4. The system V1315 Aql and SW Sex exhibit a much flatter run of T(R) in the inner region of the disk, while LX Ser appears to hold a position in between these two extremes. The consequences of these results for accretion disk models are also discussed.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- July 1992
- Bibcode:
- 1992A&A...260..213R
- Keywords:
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- Accretion Disks;
- Cataclysmic Variables;
- Light Curve;
- Maximum Entropy Method;
- Eclipsing Binary Stars;
- Novae;
- Astrophysics