Modeling the Mass-transfer Stream in the Interacting Algol-type Binary Star U Coronae Borealis
Abstract
Algol-type binaries have been observed to show alternating stream-like and disk-like states over several observing seasons. It is not well understood how systems switch between the two states or the timescales at which they oscillate. Prior studies have hinted at timescales as short as a few orbital cycles. Here, we have indirectly imaged the state of U CrB over several observing seasons using the technique of 2D back-projection Doppler tomography. We observed a stream-like state during the 2017 and 2018 observing seasons. The spectra of the system were modeled using the SHELLSPEC code. The stream's contribution to the spectra was removed to isolate residual signal. In the 2017 data we found that the residual signal was likely a result of a localized region of emission caused by stream-stream interaction. This work was supported, in part, by the Carol and Ray Neag Undergraduate Research Fund.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23517034J