Bowen fluorescence in AM Herculis stars

view Abstract Citations (25) References (44) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Bowen Fluorescence in AM Herculis Stars Schachter, Jonathan ; Filippenko, Alexei V. ; Kahn, Steven M. ; Paerels, Frits B. S. Abstract The study relates the observations of the Bowen fluorescence lines in AM Her and EF Eri, two AM Her systems. The implications of source variability and the checks performed in order to verify the accuracy of the data are reviewed. The line ratios for H I and He II are shown to deviate considerably from those expected; in this light, the H I and He II emission in AM Her is analyzed in detail. This approach makes it possible to put limits on line and continuum optical depths as well as temperatures. These limits along with the observed Bowen emission are used to construct a picture of the emission-line regions in the two sources, producing the values for the size, density, and temperature of a region. The derived value of the size is found to be significantly less than the size of the Roche lobe of the white dwarf, while the large range of densities is attributed to the exponential temperature dependence in the expression used for density. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: June 1991 DOI: 10.1086/170083 Bibcode: 1991ApJ...373..633S Keywords: Blue Stars; Eclipsing Binary Stars; Fluorescence; Oxygen Spectra; Ultraviolet Spectra; Variable Stars; Calcium; Emission Spectra; Helium; Nitrogen; Stellar Composition; Astrophysics; ATOMIC PROCESSES; RADIATIVE TRANSFER; STARS: BINARIES; STARS: EMISSION-LINE; STARS: INDIVIDUAL CONSTELLATION NAME: AM HERCULIS; STARS: INDIVIDUAL CONSTELLATION NAME: EF ERIDANI; ULTRAVIOLET: SPECTRA full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (4)