In this paper we analyzed the behavior of the unusual dwarf nova EM Cyg using the data obtained in April-October, 2007 in Vyhorlat observatory (Slovak Republic) and in September, 2006 in Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (Ukraine). During our observations EM Cyg has shown outbursts in every 15-40 days. Because on the light curves of EM Cyg the partial eclipse of an accretion disc is observed we applied the eclipse mapping technique to reconstruct the temperature distribution in eclipsed parts of the disc. Calculations of the accretion rate in the system were made for the quiescent and the outburst states of activity for different distances.
Dwarf nova outbursts result from enhanced mass transport through the accretion disc of a cataclysmic variable system. We assess the question of whether these outbursts are caused by an enhanced mass transfer from the late-type main sequence star onto the white dwarf (so-called mass transfer instability model, MTI) or by a thermal instability in the accretion disc (disc instability model, DIM). We compute non-LTE models and spectra of accretion discs in quiescence and outburst and construct spectral time sequences for discs over a complete outburst cycle. We then compare our spectra to published optical spectroscopy of the dwarf nova SS Cygni. In particular, we investigate the hydrogen and helium line profiles that are turning from emission into absorption during the rise to outburst. The evolution of the hydrogen and helium line profiles during the rise to outburst and decline clearly favour the disc-instability model. Our spectral model sequences allow us to distinguish inside-out and outside-in moving heating waves in the disc of SS Cygni, which can be related to symmetric and asymmetric outburst light curves, respectively.
We report on the discovery of an eclipsing dwarf nova (DN) inside the peculiar, bilobed nebula Te 11. Modelling of high-speed photometry of the eclipse finds the accreting white dwarf to have a mass 1.18 M$_odot$ and temperature 13 kK. The donor spectral type of M2.5 results in a distance of 330 pc, colocated with Barnards loop at the edge of the Orion-Eridanus superbubble. The perplexing morphology and observed bow shock of the slowly-expanding nebula may be explained by strong interactions with the dense interstellar medium in this region. We match the DN to the historic nova of 483 CE in Orion and postulate that the nebula is the remnant of this eruption. This connection supports the millennia time scale of the post-nova transition from high to low mass-transfer rates. Te 11 constitutes an important benchmark system for CV and nova studies as the only eclipsing binary out of just three DNe with nova shells.
We present high speed photometric observations of the eclipsing dwarf nova IP Peg taken with the triple-beam camera ULTRACAM mounted on the William Herschel Telescope. The primary eclipse in this system was observed twice in 2004, and then a further sixteen times over a three week period in 2005. Our observations were simultaneous in the Sloan u, g and r bands. By phase-folding and averaging our data we make the first significant detection of the white dwarf ingress in this system and find the phase width of the white dwarf eclipse to be 0.0935 +/- 0.0003, significantly higher than the previous best value of between 0.0863 and 0.0918. The mass ratio is found to be q = M2 /M1 = 0.48 +/- 0.01, consistent with previous measurements, but we find the inclination to be 83.8 +/- 0.5 deg, significantly higher than previously reported. We find the radius of the white dwarf to be 0.0063 +/- 0.0003 solar radii, implying a white dwarf mass of 1.16 +/- 0.02 solar masses. The donor mass is 0.55 +/- 0.02 solar masses. The white dwarf temperature is more difficult to determine, since the white dwarf is seen to vary significantly in flux, even between consecutive eclipses. This is seen particularly in the u-band, and is probably the result of absorption by disc material. Our best estimate of the temperature is 10,000 - 15,000K, which is much lower than would be expected for a CV with this period, and implies a mean accretion rate of less than 5 times 10^-11 solar masses per year, more than 40 times lower than the expected rate.
We report the analysis of 22 B-band light curves of the dwarf nova V4140 Sgr obtained with SOI/SOAR during two nights along the decline of a superoutburst in 2006 Sep 12-24 and in quiescence over 50 days following the superoutburst. Three-dimensional eclipse mapping of the outburst light curves indicates that the accretion disc is elliptical (eccentricity e=0.13) and that superhump maximum occurs when the mass donor star is aligned with the bulge of the elliptical disc. The accretion disc is geometrically thin both in outburst and in quiescence; it fills the primary Roche lobe in outburst and shrinks to about half this size in quiescence. The stability of the eclipse shape, width and depth along quiescence and the derived disc surface brightness distribution indicate that the quiescent accretion disc is in a high-viscosity, steady-state. Flickering mapping of the quiescent data reveal that the low-frequency flickering arises from an azimuthally-extended stream-disc impact region at disc rim and from the innermost disc region, whereas the high-frequency flickering originates in the accretion disc. Assuming the disc-related flickering to be caused by fluctuations in the energy dissipation rate induced by magneto-hydrodynamic turbulence (Gertseema & Achterberg 1992), we find that the quiescent disc viscosity parameter is large (alpha ~ 0.2-0.4) at all radii. The high-viscosity quiescent disc and the inferred low disc temperatures in superoutburst are inconsistent with expectations of the disc-instability model, and lead to the conclusion that the outbursts of V4140 Sgr are powered by mass transfer bursts from its donor star.
We report the analysis of time-series of infrared $JHK_s$ photometry of the dwarf nova V2051 Oph in quiescence with eclipse mapping techniques to investigate structures and the spectrum of its accretion disc. The light curves after removal of the ellipsoidal variations caused by the mass-donor star show a double-wave modulation signalling the presence of two asymmetric light sources in the accretion disc. Eclipse maps reveal two spiral arms on top of the disc emission, one at $R_1= 0.28pm 0.02 ,R_mathrm{L1}$ and the other at $R_2= 0.42pm 0.02 ,R_mathrm{L1}$ (where $R_mathrm{L1}$ is the distance from disc centre to the inner Lagrangian point), which are seen face-on at binary phases consistent with the maxima of the double-wave modulation. The wide open angle inferred for the spiral arms ($theta_s= 21^o pm 4^o$) suggests the quiescent accretion disc of V2051 Oph has high viscosity. The accretion disc is hot and optically thin in its inner regions ($T_mathrm{gas}sim 10-12 times 10^3,K$ and surface densities $sim 10^{-3}-10^{-2},g,cm^{-2}$), and becomes cool and opaque in its outer regions.