Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:07:08.690Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Periods of Cataclysmic Variable Stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Edward L. Robinson
Edward L. Robinson*
Affiliation:
NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

To understand the structure and evolution of the cataclysmic variables, we will need accurate values for their masses, dimensions, mass transfer rates, and other physical properties. Unfortunately, despite an abundance of observational data on these systems, there is a severe dearth of reliable, quantitative information about their fundamental physical properties. Only two cataclysmic variables, U Gem and EM Cyg, are simultaneously eclipsing binaries and double-lined spectroscopic binaries, and only for these two systems can masses and dimensions be determined with a minimum of assumptions (Stover 1981a; Stover, Robinson, and Nather 1981). Even if there were more systems like U Gem and EM Cyg, it is not obvious that our information would be any more reliable, because observers are often unable to agree on the values of the directly measured quantities used to determine physical properties. Thus, the radial velocity curve of the brightest dwarf nova, SS Cyg, has been measured independently 5 times in the last 30 years. The agreement among the measurements is unsatisfactory, and the reasons for the disagreement are not completely understood (Joy 1956; Kiplinger 1979; Stover et al. 1980; Cowley, Crampton, and Hutchings 1980; Walker 1981). The physical properties may still be unreliable when the disagreements are understood and eliminated, because there is considerable uncertainty about the proper way to extract physical properties from observational data. For example, the observed radial velocity curves of cataclysmic variables are believed to be different from the true radial velocity curves of their component stars, but the amount of difference and ways to correct for the difference are unknown.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 72: Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects , 1983 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1983

References

REFERENCES

Africano, J.L., and Klimke, A. 1981, IAU Inf. Bull. Var. Stars, No. 1969.Google Scholar
Africano, J.L., and Olson, E. C. 1981, P.A.S.P., 93, 130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, S., Berg, R.A., and Duthie, J. G. 1976, Ap. J., 206, 790.Google Scholar
Barlow, M.J., Brodie, J.P., Brunt, C.C, Hanes, D.A., Hill, P.W., Mayo, S.K., Pringle, J.E., Ward, M.J., Watson, M.G., Whelan, J.A.J., and Willis, A.J. 1981, M.N.R.A.S., 195. 61.Google Scholar
Barwig, H., and Schoembs, R. 1981, IAU Inf. Bull. Var. Stars, No. 2031.Google Scholar
Biermann, P., Kuhr, H., Liebert, J., Stockman, , Strittmatter, P., and Tapia, S. 1982, IAU Circulars, No. 3680.Google Scholar
Bond, H.E. 1977, private communication.Google Scholar
Bond, H.E., Kemper, E., and Mattei, J.A. 1982, Ap. J., in press.Google Scholar
Campolonghi, F., Gilmozzi, R., Guidoni, U., Messi, R., Natali, G., and Well, J. 1980, Astron. Ap., 85. 14. Google Scholar
Chincarini, G., and Walker, M.F. 1981, Astron. Ap., 104, 24.Google Scholar
Cook, M.C, and Warner, B. 1981, M.N.R.A.S., 196, 55p. Google Scholar
Cowley, A.P., Crampton, D., Hesser, J.E. 1977a, Ap. J., 214, 471. Google Scholar
Cowley, A.P., Crampton, D., Hesser, J.E. 1977b, P.A.S.P., 89, 716.Google Scholar
Cowley, A.P., Crampton, D., and Hutchings, J.B. 1980, Ap. J., 241, 269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crampton, D. 1982, private communication.Google Scholar
D’Antona, F., and Mazzitelli, I. 1982, Ap. J., 260, in press. Google Scholar
Faulkner, J., Flannery, B., and Warner, B. 1972, Ap. J. (Letters), 175, L79.Google Scholar
Gilliland, R.L. 1982a, Ap. J., 254, 653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilliland, R.L. 1982b, Ap. J., 258, 576. Google Scholar
Gilliland, R.L. 1983, Ap. J. , in press.Google Scholar
Gilliland, R.L., Phillips, M.M. 1982, Ap. J., 261, in press.Google Scholar
Grauer, A.D. 1982, private communication.Google Scholar
Haefner, R. 1981, IAU Inf. Bull, Var. Stars, No. 2045.Google Scholar
Horne, K., Lanning, H.H., and Corner, R.H. 1982, Ap. J, 252, 681.Google Scholar
Hutchings, J.B. 1979, Ap. J., 232, 176.Google Scholar
Hutchings, J.B., Cowley, A.P., Crampton, D., Williams, G. 1981a, P.A.S.P., 93. 741.Google Scholar
Hutchings, J.B., Crampton, D., Cowley, A.P., Thorstensen, J.R., and Charles, P.A. 1981b, Ap. J., 249, 680. Google Scholar
Hutchings, J.B., and Thomas, B. 1982, P.A.S.P., 94, 102.Google Scholar
Joy, A.H. 1956, Ap. J., 124, 317.Google Scholar
Kiplinger, A.L. 1979, A.J., 84, 655.Google Scholar
Kraft, R.P., Krzeminski, W., and Mumford, G.S. 1969, Ap. J., 158, 589.Google Scholar
Kraft, R.P., and Luyten, W.J. 1965, Ap. J., 142, 1041.Google Scholar
Kukarkin, B.V. 1977, M.N.R.A.S., 180, 5p.Google Scholar
Kurochkin, N.E., and Shugarov, S. Yu. 1981, Astron. Tsirk., No. 1154.Google Scholar
Liebert, J., Stockman, H.S., Williams, R.E., Tapia, S., Green, R.F., Rautenkranz, D., Ferguson, D.H., and Szkody, P. 1982, Ap. J., 256, 594.Google Scholar
Liebert, J., Tapia, S., Bond, H.E., and Grauer, A.D. 1982, Ap. J., 254, 232.Google Scholar
Longmore, A.J., Lee, T.J., Allen, D.A., and Adams, D.J. 1981, M.N.R.A.S., 195, 825. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, K., Middleditch, J., Cordova, F., Jensen, K., Reichert, G., Bowyer, S., Murdin, P., and Clark, D. 1982a, IAU Circulars, No. 3685.Google Scholar
Mason, K.O., Middleditch, J., Cordova, F.A., Jensen, K.A., Reichert, G., Murdin, P.G., Clark, D., Bowyer, S. 1982b, Ap. J., in press. Google Scholar
McLaughlin, D.B. 1960, in Stars and Stellar Systems, Vol. 6, Stellar Atmospheres, ed. Greenstein, J. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), p. 585.Google Scholar
Middleditch, J., Mason, K.O., Nelson, J.E., and White, N.E. 1981, Ap. J., 244, 1001.Google Scholar
Mumford, G.S. 1971, Ap. J., 165, 369.Google Scholar
Mumford, G.S. 1976, Ap. J., 210, 416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mumford, G.S. 1980, A.J., 85, 748.Google Scholar
Nather, R.E., Robinson, E.L., and Stover, R.J. 1981, Ap. J., 244, 269.Google Scholar
Paczynski, B. 1965, Acta Astr., 15, 197.Google Scholar
Paczynski, B., and Sienkiewicz, R. 1981, Ap. J. (Letters), 248, L27.Google Scholar
Patterson, J. 1979a, A.J., 84, 804.Google Scholar
Patterson, J. 1979b, Ap. J., 231. 789.Google Scholar
Patterson, J. 1981, Ap. J. (Suppl.), 45, 517.Google Scholar
Patterson, J., Schwartz, D.A., Bradt, H., Remillard, R., McHardy, I.I., Pye, J.P., Williams, G., Fesen, R.A., and Szkody, P. 1982, Bull. Amer. Ast. Soc., 14, 618. Google Scholar
Rappaport, S., Joss, P., and Webbink, R.F. 1982, Ap. J., 254, 616. Google Scholar
Robinson, E.L., Barker, E.S., Cochran, A.L., Cochran, W.D., and Nather, R.E. 1981, Ap. J., 251, 611.Google Scholar
Robinson, E.L., Nather, R.E., and Kepler, S.O. 1982, Ap. J., 254, 646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, E.L., Nather, R.E., and Patterson, J. 1978, Ap. J., 219, 168.Google Scholar
Schneider, D.P., and Young, P. 1980a, Ap. J., 238, 946.Google Scholar
Schneider, D.P., and Young, P. 1980b, Ap. J., 240, 871.Google Scholar
Schneider, D.P., Young, P., and Shectman, S.A. 1981, Ap. J., 245, 644.Google Scholar
Schoembs, R. 1982, IAU Inf. Bull. Var. Stars, No. 2116.Google Scholar
Schoembs, R., and Vogt, N. 1981, Astron. Ap., 97, 185.Google Scholar
Shafter, A. 1982, IAU Circulars, No. 3689.Google Scholar
Shafter, A.W., and Targon, D.M. 1981, Bull. Amer. Ast. Soc., 13, 802.Google Scholar
Shara, M., Moffat, A.F.J., McGraw, J., Dearborn, D.S., Bond, H.E., and Kemper, E. 1982, IAU Circulars, No. 3707.Google Scholar
Smak, J., and Stepien, K. 1975, Acta Astr., 25, 379.Google Scholar
Stockman, H., Foltz, C, Tapia, S., Schmidt, G., and Grandi, S. 1982, IAU Circulars, No. 3696.Google Scholar
Stolz, B., and Schoembs, R. 1981, IAU Inf. Bull. Var. Stars, No. 2029.Google Scholar
Stover, R.J. 1981a, Ap. J., 248, 684.Google Scholar
Stover, R.J. 1981b, Ap. J., 249, 673.Google Scholar
Stover, R.J., Robinson, E.L., Nather, R.E. 1981, Ap. J., 248, 696. Google Scholar
Stover, R.J., Robinson, E.L., Nather, R.E. and Montemayor, T.J. 1980, Ap. J., 240, 597. Google Scholar
Tapia, S. 1982, IAU Circulars, No. 3685.Google Scholar
Thorstensen, J., Charles, P., Bowyer, S., Briel, U.G., Doxsey, R.E., Griffiths, R.E., and Schwartz, D.A. 1979, Ap. J.(Letters), 233, L59.Google Scholar
Visvanathan, N., and Pickles, A. 1982, Nature, 298, 41. Google Scholar
Vogt, N. 1974, Astron. Ap., 36, 369. Google Scholar
Vogt, N. 1975, Astron. Ap., 41, 15. Google Scholar
Vogt, N. 1980, Astron. Ap., 88, 66.Google Scholar
Vogt, N., Schoembs, R., Krzeminski, W., and Pedersen, H. 1981, Astron. Ap., 94, L29.Google Scholar
Vogt, N., and Semeniuk, I. 1980, Astron. Ap., 89, 223.Google Scholar
Walker, M.F. 1981, Ap. J., 248, 256.Google Scholar
Walter, F.M., Bowyer, S., Mason, K.O., Clarke, J.T., Henry, J.P., Halpern, J., and Grindlay, J.E. 1982, Ap. J. (Letters), 253, L67.Google Scholar
Warner, B. 1976, in IAU Symposium 73, Structure and Evolution of Close Binary Systems (Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel), p. 85.Google Scholar
Warner, B., O’Donoghue, D., and Fairall, A.P. 1981, M.N.R.A.S., 196, 705.Google Scholar
Warner, B., and Thackeray, A.D. 1975, M.N.R.A.S., 172, 433.Google Scholar
Webbink, R.F. 1979, in IAU Colloquium 46, Changing Trends in Variable Star Research (Hamilton, N.z.: University of Waikato Press), p. 102.Google Scholar
White, N.E., and Swank, J.H. 1982, Ap. J. (Letters), 253, L61.Google Scholar
Whyte, C, and Eggleton, P. 1980, M.N.R.A.S., 190, 809.Google Scholar
Williams, R.E., and Ferguson, D.H. 1982, Ap. J., 257, 672.Google Scholar
Young, P., and Schneider, D.P. 1979, Ap. J., 230, 502.Google Scholar