NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0061
|
NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0061 |
|
PI: Manuel Torres, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, mtorres@cfa.harvard.edu
Address: 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
CoI: Boris Gaensicke, University of Warwick (UK)
CoI: Pablo Rodriguez-Gil, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Spain)
CoI: Knox Long, Space Telescope Science Institute (USA)
CoI: Tom Marsh, University of Warwick (UK)
CoI: Danny Steeghs, University of Warwick (UK)
CoI: Teodoro Munoz-Darias, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Spain)
CoI: Tariq Shahbaz, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Spain)
CoI: Linda Schmidtobreick, European Southern Observatory (Chile)
CoI: Matthias Schreiber, Universidad de Valparaiso (Chile)
Title: The primary role of the SW Sextantis stars in the evolution of cataclysmic variables
Abstract:
SW Sextantis stars are a relatively large group of cataclysmic variables
(CVs) which plays a fundamental role in our understanding of CV structure and
evolution. Very little is known about the properties of their accreting white
dwarfs and their donor stars, as the stellar components are usually outshone
by an extremely bright accretion flow. Consequently, a proper assesment of
their evolutionary state is illusionary. We are monitoring the brightness of
a number of SW Sex stars and request here Gemini/GMOS-N ToO time to obtain
orbital phase-resolved spectroscopy if one of them enters a low state, since
this is the only opportunity for studying the stellar components
individually. These data will be used to accurately measure the binary
parameters, white dwarf temperature, and distance to the system for a SW Sex
star for the first time. The measured stellar masses and radii will
especially be a precious input to the theory of compact binary evolution as a
whole.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
|
NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0061 |
|