Bibcode
Araujo-Betancor, Sofia; Gansicke, Boris; Long, Knox; Rodriguez-Gil, Pablo
Bibliographical reference
NOAO Proposal ID #2005B-0023
Advertised on:
8
2005
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
SW Sextantis stars are a relatively large group of cataclysmic variables
whose properties contradict all predictions made by the current CV
evolution theories. Very little is known about the properties of their
accreting white dwarfs and their donor stars, as the stellar components
are usually outshone by an extremely bright accretion flow.
Consequently, a proper assessment of their evolutionary state is
illusionary. There is one particular behavior of the SW Sex stars that
can allow us to overcome this problem: SW Sex stars exhibit low states
during which accretion onto the white dwarf decreases or shuts off
completely. Only during this rare occasions we can directly observe the
white dwarf and the donor star in these systems, and measurements of the
white dwarf temperature, spectral type of the donor, mass and distance
to the system can be carried out. With this aim in mind, we have set up
a long-term monitoring of a group of five SW Sex stars using the 1.3 m
telescope at CTIO. Here we propose to activate follow-up TOOs to obtain
optical spectra of the low states to accurately determine the
fundamental properties of these systems.