The wind accretion wake in a detached binary system

Physics

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Hst Proposal Id #8712 Ism And Circumstellar Matter

Scientific paper

RW Hya {= HD 117970} is the only known detached binary system, where direct observational evidence for wind accretion onto a white dwarf is found. STIS UV observations will enable us to advance our knowledge in a field which has for long had to remain a theoretical subject. RW Hya is an eclipsing system containing a mass-losing M-giant and a hot white dwarf on circular orbits {370 days}. Close to quadrature, Rayleigh attenuation of the white dwarf UV-continuum has revealed a strong temporary increase in the column density of neutral hydrogen in the line of sight. This behaviour is a forceful indication for an accretion wake trailing the white dwarf. With the proposed STIS/UV observations of RW Hya, we can for the first time tomographically map the structure of an accretion wake. The shape of the accretion wake depends on the properties of the unperturbed M-giant wind as well as on hydrodynamical processes in the wake. We will therefore be able to study both, M-giant wind acceleration and dynamics of shocked ionized flows. The proposed set of spectra will thus yield stringent boundary conditions for refined hydrodynamical wind accretion simulations in detached binary systems.

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