A survey of far ultraviolet spectroscopic explorer observations of cataclysmic variables

摘要

During its lifetime, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) was used to observe 99 cataclysmic variables (CVs) in 211 separate observations. Here, we present a survey of the moderate-resolution (R ? 10, 000), far-ultraviolet (905-1188), time-averaged FUSE spectra of CVs. The FUSE spectra are morphologically diverse. They show contributions from the accretion disk, the disk chromosphere, disk outflows, and the white dwarf (WD), but the relative contribution of each component varies widely as a function of CV subtype, orbital period and evolutionary state, inclination, mass accretion rate, and magnetic field strength of the WD. The data reveal information about the structure, temperature, density and mass flow rates of the disk and disk winds, the temperature of the WD and the effects of ongoing accretion on its structure, and the long-term response of the systems to disk outbursts. The complete atlas of time-averaged FUSE spectra of CVs is available at the Multimission Archive at Space Telescope Science Institute as a High Level Science Product.