Dynamical constraints on the component masses of the cataclysmic variable WZ Sge

Details Dynamical constraints on the component masses of the cataclysmic variable WZ Sge Dynamical constraints on the component masses of the cataclysmic variable WZ Sge

2007-06-07

arxiv.org/abs/0706.0987v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

Scientific paper

10.1086/520702

We present phase-resolved spectroscopy of the short period cataclysmic variable WZ Sge obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. We were able to resolve the orbital motion of a number of absorption lines that likely probe the environment near the accreting white dwarf. The radial velocities derived from simultaneous fits to 13 absorption lines indicate an orbital velocity semi-amplitude of K_UV = 47 +/- 3 km/s. However, we find that the phase zero is offset from the white dwarf ephemeris by +0.1. Our offset and velocity amplitude are very similar to constraints derived from optical emission lines from the quiescent accretion disk, despite the fact that we are probing material much closer to the primary. If we associate the UV amplitude with K_1, our dynamical constraints together with the K_2 estimates from Steeghs et al. (2001) and the known binary inclination of i=77+/-2 imply 0.88

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