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WZ Sge-type stars are an extreme subclass of dwarf novae characterised by very rare, large-amplitude superoutbursts. Within the disc instability model (DIM), such events are explained as being triggered by enhanced mass transfer from the…
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…
To understand the physical processes governing accretion discs we can study active galactic nuclei (AGN), X-ray binary systems (XRBs) and cataclysmic variables (CVs). It has been shown that XRBs and CVs show similar observational properties…
Characterization of the properties of young brown dwarfs are important to constraining the formation of objects at the extreme low-mass end of the IMF. While young brown dwarfs share many properties with solar-mass T Tauri stars,…
{We combine the results of our earlier study of the UV characteristics of 18 classical novae (CNe) with data from the literature and with the recent precise distance determinations from the Gaia satellite to investigate the statistical…
A theoretical light curve for the 1999 outburst of U Scorpii is presented in order to obtain various physical parameters of the recurrent nova. Our U Sco model consists of a very massive white dwarf (WD) with an accretion disk and a…
Classical nova eruptions result from thermonuclear-powered runaways in, and ejection of, the hydrogen-rich envelopes of white dwarf stars accreted from their close binary companions. Novae brighten to up to 1,000,000 solar luminosities, and…
We obtained three consecutive HST spectroscopic observations of a single superoutburst of the dwarf nova VW Hydri. The spectra cover the beginning, middle, and end of the superoutburst. All of the spectra are dominated by strong absorption…
Rather than accreting via a disk, some White Dwarfs (WDs) in quiescent Dwarf Novae (DN) could accrete via an Advection-Dominated Accretion Flow (ADAF) possibly responsible for the X-ray Bremsstrahlung emission observed. Such a hot accretion…
We present simulations of dwarf nova outbursts taking into account realistic variations of the mass loss rate from the secondary. The mass transfer variation has been derived from 20 years of visual monitoring and from X-ray observations…
The detection of a dust disc around G29-38 and transits from debris orbiting WD1145+017 confirmed that the photospheric trace metals found in many white dwarfs arise from the accretion of tidally disrupted planetesimals. The composition of…
We examine the properties of white dwarfs (WDs) accreting hydrogen-rich matter in and near the stable burning regime of accretion rates as modeled by time-dependent calculations done with Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics…
Accretion disks in white dwarf systems are believed to be tilted. In a recent publication, the lift force has been suggested to be a source to disk tilt, a source that is likely relevant to all accretion disk systems. Lift is generated by…
Infrared excesses around metal polluted white dwarfs have been associated with the accretion of dusty, planetary material. This work analyses the available infrared data for an unbiased sample of white dwarfs and demonstrates that no more…
Nova V2491 Cyg is one of just two detected pre-outburst in X-rays. The light curve of this nova exhibited a rare "re-brightening" which has been attributed by some as the system being a polar, whilst others claim that a magnetic WD is…
We present multi-epoch, time-resolved optical spectroscopic observations of the dwarf nova HT Cas, obtained during 1986, 1992, 1995 and 2005 with the aim to study the properties of emission structures in the system. We determined that the…
Accretion disks in white dwarf systems are believed to be tilted. In a recent publication, the lift force has been suggested to be a source to disk tilt, a source that is likely relevant to all accretion disk systems. Lift is generated by…
We consider the parallaxes of sixteen cataclysmic variables and related objects that are included in the TGAS catalogue, which is part of the Gaia first data release, and compare these with previous parallax measurements. The parallax of…
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.…
Symbiotic binaries are systems containing white dwarfs (WDs) and red giants. Symbiotic novae are those systems in which thermonuclear eruptions occur on the WD components. These are to be distinguished from events driven by accretion disk…