Oscillations, Flares, and Tomography of AE Aquarii

Physics

Scientific paper

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Hst Proposal Id #3600

Scientific paper

AE Aquarii is the most rapidly spinning of the magnetic cataclysmic variables. Its 16.5 and 33s oscillations and large aperiodic flaring have been studied at radio, optical, x-ray, and TeV gamma-ray energies but never before in the UV. Accretion onto the magnetic poles of the white dwarf is thought to produce rotating x-ray searchlight beams that irradiate the surrounding accretion flow. The impressive flares may represent accretion rate fluctuations gated by magnetic reconnection near the co-rotation radius, where disk material enters the magnetosphere. The source of relativistic electrons producing the highly variable spectrum of unpolarized radio emission is uncertain. We propose FOS,G160L observations in RAPID (1s) readout mode for 7 consecutive HST orbits covering one 9.88h binary period to measure the oscillations and flares as a function of wavelength and binary phase, and to investigate relationships between the oscillations and flares. We predict 1-20 percent oscillations in the UV, making this the only spectral region in which the oscillations can be studied with good S/N. HST has sufficient sensitivity and time resolution to make this an easy experiment. Besides clarifying the nature of the oscillations and flares, we will perform doppler and time-delay tomography of the UV emission-line regions in the system.

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