A 150MG magnetic white dwarf in the cataclysmic variable RX J1554.2+2721
Astrophysics
2009-11-10 v1
Abstract
We report the detection of Zeeman-split Lalpha absorption pi and sigma+ lines in the far-ultraviolet Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spectrum of the magnetic cataclysmic variable RX J1554.2+2721. Fitting the STIS data with magnetic white dwarf model spectra, we derive a field strength of B~144MG and an effective temperature of 17000K<Teff<23000K. This measurement makes RX J1554.2+2721 only the third cataclysmic variable containing a white dwarf with a field exceeding 100MG. Similar to the other high-field polar AR UMa, RX J1554.2+2721 is often found in a state of feeble mass transfer, which suggests that a considerable number of high-field polars may still remain undiscovered.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0408301,
title = {A 150MG magnetic white dwarf in the cataclysmic variable RX J1554.2+2721},
author = {B. T. Gaensicke and S. Jordan and K. Beuermann and D. de Martino and P. Szkody and T. Marsh and J. Thorstensen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0408301},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, accepted for ApJ Letters