NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
RW Sextantis, a disk with a hot, high-velocity windThe continuum spectrum of the flickering blue variable RW Sex was observed from 10,000 to 1150 A. The star is a cataclysmic variable currently stabilized at maximum, and the spectrum is dominated by an accretion disk, with flat spectrum in the ultraviolet, except at more than 5000 A, where a blackbody near 7000 K is seen. A distance of 400 pc is derived, if the latter arises from an F type main sequence star. The accretion rate required is near 10 to the -8th solar masses per year. Only weak emission is seen, except for Lyman alpha; strong, broad UV absorption lines are seen with centers displaced up to -3000 km/s, with terminal velocities up to -4500 km/s, the velocity of escape from a white dwarf. The low X-ray flux may arise from absorption within an unusually dense, hot wind from the innermost portions of the disk. The estimated mass loss rate is nearly 10 to the -12th solar masses per year.
Document ID
19820053728
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Greenstein, J. L.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Oke, J. B.
(Palomar Observatory Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 10, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 1982
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
82A37263
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSG-5243
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSG-5381
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available