Spectrally Resolved Maps of Optically Thick Accretion Disks: CYCLE4 High

Details Spectrally Resolved Maps of Optically Thick Accretion Disks: CYCLE4 High Spectrally Resolved Maps of Optically Thick Accretion Disks: CYCLE4 High

Jul 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994hst..prop.5448l&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #5448

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #5448 Hot Stars Eruptive Binaries

Scientific paper

We will derive the structure of the steady state optically thick accretion disk in the novalike variable UX UMa by using the FOS in RAPID readout mode to monitor eclipses of its UV/optical spectra as the companion star progressively occults the accretion disk and the white dwarf. From the observed eclipse light curves at different wavelengths we will construct monochromatic maps of the disk and then extract the spectrum from any desired region of the disk surface, including annuli at different radii in the disk, the hot spot on the outer rim of the disk, and the white dwarf / boundary layer at the inner edge. Our maps from Earth-based optical spectroscopy are of sufficient quality to reveal not only changes in continuum intensity and slope but also Balmer lines transitioning from absorption in the inner disk to emission in the outer disk. Our HST experiment extends this analysis into the ultraviolet to pin down the hot parts of the disk. We will use our results to test our models of accretion disk atmospheres and chromospheres. By observing the spectrum at each radius rather than from the disk as a whole, the quality of the information is such that will constrain the radial dependences of the effective temperature, surface density, and microturbulent Mach number, and the vertical temperature structure. Observations of this type will drive fundamental new insights into the physics of accretion disks.

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