Chemical Abundances of the Magnetic White Dwarf During the Low States of the Polar AM Herculis

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

We consider the presence of absorption lines due to accreted metals in the photosphere of the magnetic (28 MG) white dwarf in the prototype polar AM Herculis. We have applied the Massa-Fitzpatrick (2000) flux calibration correction to the archival IUE NEWSIPS SWP spectra of AM Herculis, obtained during the optical low states when the accretion rate is very low and emission due to thermal bremstrahlung and cyclotron processes is essentially absent. We have coadded low state spectra at the same UV maximum phase ~ 0.6 (main accreting pole most directly exposed to the observor) and UV minimum phase ~ 0.1 (line of sight perpendicular to the magnetic field). We have used the model atmosphere codes TLUSTY195 and SYNSPEC42 to determine the surface temperature of the white dwarf at each UV phase during quiescence and the chemical abundance of detected metal species. We discuss our abundance results in the context of magnetic accretion physics in AM Herculis systems. This research was supported in part by NSF grant AST 99-01955, NASA ADP grant NAG5-8388 and by summer research funding from the NASA- Delaware Space Grant Colleges Consortium.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Chemical Abundances of the Magnetic White Dwarf During the Low States of the Polar AM Herculis does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Chemical Abundances of the Magnetic White Dwarf During the Low States of the Polar AM Herculis, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Chemical Abundances of the Magnetic White Dwarf During the Low States of the Polar AM Herculis will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1726833

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.