NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Press Enter or click the Search button to begin your search.

Back to Results
The pre-cataclysmic binary EUVE 2013+400New optical spectroscopy shows a 0.706 d orbital period for Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) 2013+400 and confirms its membership in a class of close binary systems emerging from common-envelope evolution. This binary, like the prototype Feige 24, consists of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emitting hot white dwarf and a late-type dwarf. Bergeron et al.'s (1994) optical spectroscopy and ultraviolet spectrophotometry indicate that the white dwarf is hot (T(sub eff) approximately equals 50 000 K) and therefore very young (t(sub age) less than or equal 5 x 10(exp 6) yr), and extreme ultraviolet photometry places EUVE 2013+400 along a neutral hydrogen column density in the interstellar medium of n(sub H) approximately equal to 10(exp 19)/sq cm. The white dwarf is a DAO type and we obtained two independent estimates of the helium abundance from EUV photometric measurements (log(y) approximately equal to -3.2) and from the He II lambda-4686 line profile (log(y) approximately equal to -2.8). The data possibly indicate a level of heterogeneity expected in the context of on-going chemical separation in the photospheric layers. The Balmer lines show narrow emission that varies with binary phase with the equivalent widths of the emission trailing the radial velocities by 1/4 cycle: this phasing shows that most of the emission arises on the EUV-illuminated face of the red dwarf. A spectrophotometric decomposition shows that the secondary's spectral type is near M3 and that it contributes about 15%-25% of the total light near 6500 A; the resulting H-alpha emission is twice as strong as in Feige 24, with an equivalent width of 37-61 A with respect to the red dwarf continuum. EUVE 2013+400 is an important addition to the class of close binary stars discovered in EUV all-sky surveys.
Document ID
19950033938
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Thorstensen, John R.
(Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH United States)
Vennes, Stephane
(University of California, Berkeley, CA United States)
Shambrook, Anouk
(Columbia University New York, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: The Astronomical Journal
Volume: 108
Issue: 5
ISSN: 0004-6256
Subject Category
Astronomy
Report/Patent Number
ISSN: 0004-6256
Accession Number
95A65537
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-30180
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-2405
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

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