ALBERT

Beschreibung: We obtained a far-ultraviolet spectrum of the dwarf nova VW Hyi in quiescence, with the Hubble Space Telescope Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph covering the region of the Si iv lambda(lambda)1393, 1402 resonance doublet. The broad, shallow Si iv doublet feature is fully resolved, has a total equivalent width of 2.8 A, and is the first metal absorption feature to be clearly detected in the exposed white dwarf. Our synthetic spectral analysis, using a model grid constructed with the code TLUSTY, resulted in a reasonable fit to a white dwarf photosphere with T(sub eff) = 22,000 +/- 2000 K, log g = 8.0 +/- 0.3, an approximately solar Si/H abundance, and a rotational velocity, v sin i approximately equal to 600 km/s. This rotation rate, while not definitive because it is based upon just one line transition, is 20% of the Keplerian (breakup) velocity of the white dwarf and hence does not account for the unexpectedly low boundary-layer luminosity inferred from the soft-X-ray/extreme ultra-violet bands where most of the boundary-layer luminosity should be radiated. The predicted boundary-layer luminosity for a 0.6 solar mass white dwarf accreting at the rate 10(exp -10) solar mass/yr and rotating at 600 km/s, corresponding to VW Hyi in quiescence, is 2 x 10(exp 32) ergs/s when proper account is taken of the rotational kinetic energy going into spinning up the white dwarf. If the boundary-layer area is equal to that of the white dwarf, then T(sub bl) = 24,000 K. This is essentially identical to the photspheric luminosity and temperature determined in far-ultraviolet photospheric analyses. If the boundary-layer area is 10(exp -3) of the white dwarf surface area, then T(sub bl) = 136,000 K.

Beschreibung: We present optical and far-ultraviolet observations, including IUE high- and low-dispersion spectroscopy, of the (DA2+dM4-5) close binary, RE J1629+780, a very bright ROSAT EUV source. The optical data reveal emission reversals in the cores of the Balmer lines, which vary in strength but reveal no evidence of wavelength shifts reflecting orbital motion, suggesting that the red dwarf and the white dwarf are widely separated. Thus it is unlikely that irradiation plays a dominant role in the activity of the red dwarf. One dramatic increase in the intensity of the H-beta emission strength in the course of one hour indicates that the observed intensity variations are most likely related to flare activity on the red dwarf. Our analysis of Balmer and Lyman alpha features yield T(sub eff) = 42,500 +/- 1300 K and log g = 7.6 +/- 0.3 for the DA2 white dwarf, which is consistent with the overall 900 to 3200 A energy distribution derived from Voyager and IUE low-dispersion spectra. Our analysis of three IUE echelle spectra reveal numerous lines of interstellar origin. Using a total of 13 interstellar matter (ISM) features we find a mean radial velocity of -13.57 +/- 1.66 km/s for the interstellar features. However, we found no evidence of trace metal absorbers levitated or accreted in the white-dwarf photosphere nor any evidence of circumstellar or wind features. We estimate a lower limit hydrogen layer mass of 2.1 x 10(exp -15) solar mass for a stratified atmosphere based upon the nondetection of He II (1640). Tighter constraints on the helium abundance and the hydrogen layer mass, from EUV and X-ray data, are presented for both homogeneous and stratified atmospheric configurations.

Beschreibung: We have obtained a pair of consecutive far-ultraviolet Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) exposures of the Si IV region of the dwarf nova U Geminorum in early quiescence, 8 days after its return to optical quiescence when the underlying white dwarf dominates the ultraviolet light of the system. Our GHRS observation revealed a fully resolved line profile for the resonance doublet of Si IV. If it is associated with the white dwarf photosphere, then our best synthetic fits are consistent with T (sub eff) = 35,000 K-38,000 K, log g = 8, a rotational velocity of 50 to 100 km per sec, with a modestly enhanced silicon abundance (1.3-2.3 times solar) and our results suggest that at least in U Gem and perhaps in other similar dwarf novae, the missing boundary layer cannot be explained by rapid rotation of the white dwarf. However, the gamma-velocity of the system remains uncertain. If the gamma-velocity is 43 km per sec (Friend et al. 1990), then a gravitational redshift of approximately 50-60 km per sec is implied for the white dwarf. If the gamma-velocity is 84 km per sec (Wade 1981), then a gravitational redshift of only 10-30 km per sec is indicated, which may imply that either the white dwarf has a low (0.5-0.6 of Solar Mass) mass or an extended atmosphere (corona) due to the outburst heating 8 days earlier. The implications of our line-fitting results for the structure and temperature of boundary layers in cataclysmic variables are discussed.

Beschreibung: We have analyzed a far-ultraviolet spectrum of the dwarf nova VW Hyi obtained during quiescence with the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph (HST FOS). The observation occurred 10 days after the return to optical quiescence from a superoutburst of VW Hyi. The spectrum reveals a very strong Stark-broadened Ly-alpha absorption with narrow geocoronal emission, and a very rich metallic absorption-line spectrum dominated by strong resonance absorption features of singly and doubly ionized silicon and carbon, the first solid identification of metallic absorption features arising in the accreted atmosphere of the white dwarf. We confirm the reported low-resolution IUE detection of the underlying white dwarf photosphere by Mateo & Szkody. A synthetic spectral analysis with hot, high-gravity LTE model atmospheres yields a best-fit model with the following parameters: T(sub eff) = 22,000 +/- 1000 K, log g = 8.0 +/- 0.3, with chemical abundances for oxygen of 0.3 times solar, for nitrogen of 5 times solar, and for all other heavy elements of 0.15 times solar. Based upon our absorption-line measurements of the observations at different orbital phases, we find no conclusive evidence of equivalent width variations with orbital phase. In the absence of any significant reduction of the white dwarf's core mass by past nova explosions, its lower limit cooling age is approximately 50 million years.