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1988•Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyOpen access

White dwarf heating and the ultraviolet flux in dwarf novae

J. E. Pringle

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Abstract

We investigate the heating of the outer layers of the white dwarf which is likely to occur during a dwarf nova outburst. We show that the decline in IUE flux, observed during quiescent intervals in the dwarf novae VW Hydri and WX Hydri, may be due to the outer layers cooling off once the heat source is removed. The calculations here assume uniformity of the heat source over the white dwarf surface. This is unlikely to be realized from disc accretion, and we discuss what further calculations are required.

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What this paper is about

We investigate the heating of the outer layers of the white dwarf which is likely to occur during a dwarf nova outburst. We show that the decline in IUE flux, observed during quiescent intervals in the dwarf novae VW Hydri and WX Hydri, may be due to the outer layers cooling off once the heat source is removed. The calculations here assume uniformity of the heat source over the white dwarf surface. This is unlikely to be realized from disc accretion, and we discuss what further calculations are required.

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Available abstract

We investigate the heating of the outer layers of the white dwarf which is likely to occur during a dwarf nova outburst. We show that the decline in IUE flux, observed during quiescent intervals in the dwarf novae VW Hydri and WX Hydri, may be due to the outer layers cooling off once the heat source is removed. The calculations here assume uniformity of the heat source over the white dwarf surface. This is unlikely to be realized from disc accretion, and we discuss what further calculations are required.

Key concepts: White dwarf, Physics, Dwarf nova, Astrophysics, Cataclysmic variable star, Flux (metallurgy), Accretion (finance), Astronomy

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