A Flare-induced mass transfer/accretion event in AM Her?

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Cataclysmic Variables, Stellar Flares, Stellar Activity, Stellar Mass Loss, Uv Astronomy

Scientific paper

We report on HST observations of a mass transfer/accretion event in AM Her which appears to have been induced by a strong flare on the secondary. UV spectroscopic observations of the magnetic CV, AM Her, were made with STIS towards the end of a deep photometric minimum in late 2003. Our goal was to search for evidence of magnetic activity on the secondary (as seen in the Dopplershifted hot emission lines of C IV and Si IV), one of the fastest rotating cool stars ever studied in the UV. There was evidence for quiescent C IV emission at the velocity of the M star secondary, placing useful limits on its steady transition region emission. One strong flare was seen in C IV (and near flare peak, in Si IV and He II as well), with a velocity consistent with the M dwarf. This was accompanied by a near-simultaneous increase in continuum emission from the white dwarf; the excess had a temperature of about 100,000 K. We suggest that this strong flare may have caused an accretion event on the white dwarf, either by ejecting mass in the form of a CME, or disrupting a large prominence system.

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