Expanding atmosphere models for SSS spectra of novae

Details Expanding atmosphere models for SSS spectra of novae Expanding atmosphere models for SSS spectra of novae

2010-01-10

arxiv.org/abs/1001.1462v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

4 pages, accepted for AN

Scientific paper

Super Soft Source (SSS) spectra are powered by nuclear burning on the surface of a white dwarf. The released energy causes a radiatively-driven wind that leads to a radially extended atmosphere around the white dwarf. Significant blue shifts in photospheric absorption lines are found in the spectra of novae during their SSS phase, being an evidence of continued mass loss in this phase. We present spherically symmetric PHOENIX models that account for the expansion of the ejecta. A comparison to a plane parallel, hydrostatic atmosphere model demonstrates that the mass loss can have a significant impact on the model spectra. The dynamic model yields less pronounced absorption edges, and harder X-ray spectra are the result. Therefore, lower effective temperatures are needed to explain the observed spectra. Although both types of models are yet to be fine-tuned in order to accurately determine best fit parameters, the implications on the chemical abundances are going in opposite directions. With the expanding models the requirement for strong depletion of the crucial elements that cause these edges is now avoidable.

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