Related papers: The dwarf nova SS Cygni: what is wrong?
The classical nova V2491 Cyg was once suggested to be a recurrent nova. We have broadly reproduced the light curve of V2491 Cyg by a nova outburst model on a cold $1.36~M_\odot$ white dwarf (WD), which strongly suggests that V2491 Cyg is a…
CH Cygni began producing rapid, stochastic optical variations with the onset of symbiotic activity in 1963. We use changes in this flickering between 1997 and 2000 to diagnose the state of the accretion disk during this time. In the 1998…
Dwarf novae are semi-detached binaries, where a white dwarf accretes material from a cool main-sequence companion via an accretion disk, and are known for their intermittent outbursts, making them key systems for studying accretion physics.…
How are accretion discs affected by their outflows? To address this question for white dwarfs accreting from cool giants, we performed optical, radio, X-ray, and ultraviolet observations of the outflow-driving symbiotic star MWC 560 (=V694…
A large fraction of brown dwarfs and low-mass H-burning stars may form by gravitational fragmentation of protostellar discs. We explore the conditions for disc fragmentation and we find that they are satisfied when a disc is large enough…
We imaged the symbiotic star CH Cyg and two PSF calibration stars using the unique 6.5m MMT deformable secondary adaptive optics system. Our high-resolution (FWHM=0.3"), very high Strehl (98%+-2%) mid-infrared (9.8 and 11.7 um) images of CH…
Although a large number of orbital periods of cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) have been measured, comparison of period and luminosity distributions with evolutionary theory is affected by strong selection effects. A test has been…
EM Cygni is a Z Cam-subtype eclipsing dwarf nova. Its orbital period variations were reported in the past but the results were in conflict to each other while other studies allowed the possibility of no period variation. In this study we…
The mass transfer rate in SS Cyg at quiescence, estimated from the observed luminosity of the hot spot, is log\dotM_tr=16.8+/-0.3. This is safely below the critical mass transfer rates of log\dotM_crit=18.1 (corresponding to…
We numerically study the tidal instability of accretion discs in close binary systems using a two-dimensional SPH code. We find that the precession rate of tidally unstable, eccentric discs does not only depend upon the binary mass ratio q.…
Using Spitzer observations of classical Cepheids we have measured the true average distance modulus of the SMC to be $18.96 \pm 0.01_{stat} \pm 0.03_{sys}$ mag (corresponding to $62 \pm 0.3$ kpc), which is $0.48 \pm 0.01$ mag more distant…
Several brief outbursts were detected in the dwarf nova V1316 Cyg during 2005. These events have an average amplitude of 1.4 magnitude and a duration of <1 to 2 days. Whilst no outburst period could be confirmed, the shortest period between…
We present an analysis of interstellar absorption lines in high-resolution optical echelle spectra of SS Cyg obtained during an outburst in 2013 June and in archival Hubble Space Telescope and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer data.…
Observations of young stars hosting transition disks show that several of them have high accretion rates, despite their disks presenting extended cavities in their dust component. This represents a challenge for theoretical models, which…
It is now widely accepted that most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are binary systems whose large (above $10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$) apparent luminosities are explained by super-Eddington accretion onto a stellar-mass compact object. Many…
Confronting the predictions of numerical calculations with observations is an important tool to progress with our understanding of the mechanism triggering the outbursts of dwarf novae and soft X-ray transients. Simultaneous…
We show that for young stars which are still accreting and for which measurements of stellar age, disc mass and accretion rate are available, nominal disc age (Disc Age = Disc Mass / Accretion Rate) is approximately equal to the stellar…
Using EUV photometry obtained with the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite and UBVR optical photometry obtained with the 2.7-m telescope at McDonald Observatory, we have detected quasi-coherent oscillations (so-called ``dwarf nova…
We present time-resolved FUV spectra of the dwarf novae SS Cyg and WX Hyi in quiescence from observations using the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope on the Astro-1 and Astro-2 Space Shuttle missions and the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph…
The Galactic microquasar SS\,433 is very luminous and launches oppositely-directed jets of cool hydrogen at a quarter of the speed of light. Observations of emission lines from the circumbinary disk imply a system mass exceeding 40 $…