CV Science with Athena: A case study of AM Herculis
Abstract
The proposed ESA large mission telescope Athena+ has recently been selected for launch in 2028. We investigate the capability of Athena+ with respect to spectral analyses of cataclysmic variables on the case of the prototype of magnetic CVs, AM Herculis. To simulate observations with the X-IFU calorimeter onboard Athena+, we model the emission line spectrum of AM Her as a combination of the multi-temperature plasma emission of the post-shock accretion column and reflection. We generate phase-resolved synthetic X-ray spectra for the models which are sensitive to changes in the accretion rate, the white dwarf mass, and the magnetic field strength. Line shifts due to gas infall in the accretion column, orbital velocity, and gravitational redshift are taken into account. A radial-velocity study of the Fe-line complex at 6.7 keV recovers those velocity components in the H- and He-like plasma lines and the neutral reflection line with 10% accuracy.
- Publication:
-
The X-ray Universe 2014
- Pub Date:
- July 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014xru..confE.326T