Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21733803c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #338.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
In this work we investigate the polarization in B and V filters and spectra from 400nm-700nm of cyclotron radiation emitted from the polar HU Aquarii. By calculating the Stokes parameters of the light we can obtain information about the linear and circular polarization as well as position angle over the full orbit of the system. Our polarization light curves reveal that there is a pulse in circular polarization of 9% ± 2.6% in the B band and 5% ± 2% in the V band occurring from Φ = 0.6-0.7 that corresponds to a peak in magnitude in the photometric light curves. The Q component of linear polarization shows no evidence of nonzero values in either band when error bars are included. The linear U component shows -7% ± 3.5% from Φ = 0.2-0.6 in the V band. This feature cannot be confirmed in the B band because the data is contaminated during that part of the orbital period due to cloudy observing conditions. Position angle appears to remain at 130° in the V band throughout most of the orbit until Φ = 0.6, at which point its value slowly increases beyond 180° and drops to 25°. We use a genetic algorithm modeling program to analyze spectra of HU Aqr from one year prior. Based on this technique, we conclude that HU Aqr has a magnetic field of B = 35.0-37.2, which is consistent with previous estimates by Schwope, et al. (2003). There is also evidence of divergence between the plasma temperature (kT) and the mass accretion rate over the full orbital period, which is indicative of inhomogeneities in the accretion column of HU Aqr.
No associations
LandOfFree
Phase-Resolved Cyclotron Spectroscopy and Polarimetry of HU Aquarii 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 Phase-Resolved Cyclotron Spectroscopy and Polarimetry of HU Aquarii, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Phase-Resolved Cyclotron Spectroscopy and Polarimetry of HU Aquarii will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1402456