Observing the Accretion Stream in Polars
Abstract
We have developed a 3D computer model of polars which includes the accretion stream, the accretion column, the secondary star, and the white dwarf. Each component is represented by a fine grid of surface elements. With brightness values attributed to each surface element, this model generates synthetic light curves of the various components. As a first application, we present our simulated light curves of the accretion stream, fitted to high-speed HST spectroscopy of the eclipsing polar UZ Fornacis by the means of an evolution strategy.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9810081,
title = {Observing the Accretion Stream in Polars},
author = {Jens Kube and Boris T. Gaensicke and Klaus Beuermann},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9810081},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 figures containing 13 subfigures in total. To appear in Annapolis workshop on magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCV2), ASP Conf. Ser., in press. Additional mpeg-video at http://www.uni-sw.gwdg.de/~jkube/video.mpg