Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aj....131.2673k&link_type=abstract
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 131, Issue 5, pp. 2673-2680.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
9
Stars: Binaries: Close, Stars: Activity, Stars: General, Stars: Individual: Constellation Name: Am Herculis, Stars: Magnetic Fields
Scientific paper
We present observations in the red region of the spectrum of the magnetic cataclysmic variable prototype AM Her during its 2005 low state. We confirm the unexpected structure of the Hα emission line and verify most of the conclusions of our earlier study: the line is typically triple-peaked, and the radial velocity curves of all three components are phased with the radial velocities of absorption features from the photosphere of the M dwarf secondary star. The red and blue satellites of the central Hα peak were interpreted in the earlier paper as arising from magnetically confined gas motions in large, long-lived loop prominences on the secondary star; our new data are consistent with that conclusion. Furthermore, although the radial velocities of the strong central peak of the Hα emission line suggested an origin from the irradiation-heated inner hemisphere of the secondary, the phase variation of the equivalent width of the line in these new data is inconsistent with such an interpretation. It is likely that the central component of Hα has a significant contribution from stellar activity on the secondary star. Finally, simultaneous V-band photometry of the system was acquired during much of the spectroscopy, with the expectation that the ~0.6 mag flares seen in earlier data might be correlated with changes in Hα. Although the strength of Hα increased by ~1.5 times on several brief occasions during the spectroscopy, no simultaneous photometric flaring was detected.
Honeycutt Kent R.
Howell Steve B.
Kafka Styliani
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