Tappert, Claus, Gänsicke, B. T. (Boris T.), Schmidtobreick, Linda, Mennickent, Ronald E. and Navarrete, F. P.. (2007) K-band spectroscopy of pre-cataclysmic variables. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol.475 (No.2). pp. 575-583. ISSN 0004-6361

PDF WRAP_Gansicke_48_k_band.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (514Kb)

Abstract

Aims. There exists now substantial evidence for abundance anomalies in a number of cataclysmic variables (CVs), indicating that the photosphere of the secondary star incorporates thermonuclear processed material. However, the spectral energy distribution in CVs is usually dominated by the radiation produced by the accretion process, severely hindering an investigation of the stellar components. On the other hand, depending on how the secondary star has acquired such material, the above mentioned abundance anomalies could also be present in pre-CVs, i.e. detached white/red dwarf binaries that will eventually evolve into CVs, but have not yet started mass transfer, and therefore allow for an unobstructed view on the secondary star at infrared wavelengths. Methods. We have taken K-band spectroscopy of a sample of 13 pre-CVs in order to examine them for anomalous chemical abundances. In particular, we study the strength of the 12CO and 13CO absorption bands that have been found diminished and enhanced, respectively, in similar studies of CVs. Results. All our systems show CO abundances that are within the range observed for single stars. The weakest 12CO bands with respect to the spectral type are found in the pre-CV BPM 71214, although on a much smaller scale than observed in CVs. Furthermore there is no evidence for enhanced 13CO. Taking into account that our sample is subject to the present observational bias that favours the discovery of young pre-CVs with secondary stars of late spectral types, we can conclude the following: 1) our study provides observational proof that the CO anomalies discovered in certain CVs are not due to any material acquired during the common envelope phase, and 2) if the CO anomalies in certain CVs are not due to accretion of processed material during nova outburst, then the progenitors of these CVs are of a significantly different type than the currently known sample of pre-CVs.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Physics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Cataclysmic variable stars, Stars -- Spectra, Carbon monoxide
Journal or Publication Title:	Astronomy & Astrophysics
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
ISSN:	0004-6361
Date:	November 2007
Volume:	Vol.475
Number:	No.2
Page Range:	pp. 575-583
Identification Number:	10.1051/0004-6361:20077679
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Chile) (FONDECYT), Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (Great Britain) (PPARC), United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF)
Grant number:	1051078 (FONDECYT)
References:	Ali, B., Carr, J. S., Depoy, D. L., Frogel, J. A., & Sellgren, K. 1995, AJ, 110, 2415 Beuermann, K., Baraffe, I., Kolb, U., & Weichhold, M. 1998, A&A, 339, 518 Bonfils, X., Delfosse, X., Udry, S., et al. 2005, A&A, 442, 635 Bragaglia, A., Renzini, A., & Bergeron, P. 1995, ApJ, 443, 735 Bruch, A. 1999, AJ, 117, 3031 Bruch, A., & Diaz, M. P. 1998, AJ, 116, 908 Carpenter, J. M. 2001, AJ, 121, 2851 Cox, A. N. 2000, Allen’s astrophysical quantities, 4th Ed. (New York: AIP Press; Springer) Cushing, M. C., Rayner, J. T., & Vacca, W. D. 2005, ApJ, 623, 1115 Downes, R. A., Webbink, R. F., Shara, M. M., et al. 2005, J. Astron. Data, 11, 2 Förster Schreiber, N. M. 2000, AJ, 120, 2089 Gänsicke, B. T. 2005, in The Astrophysics of Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, ed. J.-M. Hameury, & J.-P. Lasota, ASP Conf. Ser., 330, 3 Gänsicke, B. T., Szkody, P., de Martino, D., et al. 2003, ApJ, 594, 443 Haefner, R. 1989, A&A, 213, L15 Haefner, R., Fiedler, A., Butler, K., & Barwig, H. 2004, A&A, 428, 181 Harrison, T. E., Osborne, H. L., & Howell, S. B. 2004, AJ, 127, 3493 Harrison, T. E., Howell, S. B., Szkody, P., & Cordova, F. A. 2005a, ApJ, 632, L123 Harrison, T. E., Osborne, H. L., & Howell, S. B. 2005b, AJ, 129, 2400 Hellier, C. 2001, Cataclysmic Variable Stars (Springer) Hoard, D. W., & Wachter, S. 1998, PASP, 110, 906 Hoard, D. W., Wachter, S., Clark, L. L., & Bowers, T. P. 2002, ApJ, 565, 511 Ivanov, V. D., Rieke, M. J., Engelbracht, C. W., et al. 2004, ApJS, 151, 387 Kawka, A., Vennes, S., Dupuis, J., & Koch, R. 2000, AJ, 120, 3250 Kawka, A., Vennes, S., Koch, R., & Williams, A. 2002, AJ, 124, 2853 Kilkenny, D., O’Donoghue, D., Koen, C., Stobie, R. S., & Chen, A. 1997, MNRAS, 287, 867 Kirkpatrick, J. D., Henry, T. J., & Simons, D. A. 1995, AJ, 109, 797 Kleinmann, S. G., & Hall, D. N. B. 1986, ApJS, 62, 501 Kube, J., Gänsicke, B. T., & Hoffmann, B. 2002, in The Physics of Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, ed. B. T. Gänsicke, K. Beuermann, & K. Reinsch, ASP Conf. Ser., 261, 678 Leggett, S. K., Allard, F., Dahn, C., et al. 2000, ApJ, 535, 965 Liebert, J., Wickramsinghe, D. T., Schmidt, G. D., et al. 2005, AJ, 129, 2376 Marks, P. B., & Sarna, M. J. 1998, MNRAS, 301, 699 Maxted, P. F. L., O’Donoghue, D., Morales-Rueda, L., Napiwotzki, R., & Smalley, B. 2007, MNRAS, 376, 919 Morales-Rueda, L., Marsh, T. R., Maxted, P. F. L., et al. 2005, MNRAS, 359, 648 O’Donoghue, D., Koen, C., Kilkenny, D., et al. 2003, MNRAS, 345, 506 Oliver, S., Mann, R. G., Carballo, R., et al. 2002, MNRAS, 332, 536 Patterson, J. 1998, PASP, 110, 1132 Pols, O. R., Schroder, K.-P., Hurley, J. R., Tout, C. A., & Eggleton, P. P. 1998, MNRAS, 298, 525 Ritter, H., & Kolb, U. 2003, A&A, 404, 301 Rodgers, A. W., & Roberts, W. H. 1994, IAU Circ., 6043, 2 Rousselot, P., Lidman, C., Cuby, J.-G., Moreels, G., & Monnet, G. 2000, A&A, 354, 1134 Saffer, R. A., Wade, R. A., Liebert, J., et al. 1993, AJ, 105, 1945 Schenker, K., & King, A. R. 2002, in The Physics of Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, ed. B. T. Gänsicke, K. Beuermann, & K. Reinsch, ASP Conf. Ser., 261, 242 Schenker, K., King, A. R., Kolb, U., Wynn, G. A., & Zhang, Z. 2002, MNRAS, 337, 1105 Schreiber, M. R., & Gänsicke, B. T. 2003, A&A, 406, 305 Schreiber, M. R., Nebot Gomez-Moran, A., & Schwope, A. D. 2006 [arXiv:astro-ph/0611461] Silvestri, N. M., Hawley, S. L., West, A. A., et al. 2006, AJ, 131, 1674 Silvestri, N. M., Lemagie, M. P., Hawley, S. L., et al. 2007, AJ, in press [arXiv:0704.0789v1] Stocke, J. T., Morris, S. L., Gioia, I. M., et al. 1991, ApJS, 76, 813 Tappert, C., Gänsicke, B. T., & Mennickent, R. E. 2004, in Rev. Mex. Astron. Astrofis. Conf. Ser., ed. G. Tovmassian, & E. Sion, 245 Tappert, C., Gänsicke, B. T., Mennickent, R. E., & Schmidtobreick, L. 2006a, Ap&SS, 304, 299 Tappert, C., Toledo, I., Gänsicke, B. T., & Mennickent, R. E. 2006b, in Rev. Mex. Astron. Astrofis. Conf. Ser., 177 Tappert, C., Gänsicke, B. T., Schmidtobreick, L., et al. 2007, A&A, submitted Thorstensen, J. R., Vennes, S., & Bowyer, S. 1996, ApJ, 457, 390 Warner, B. 1995, Cataclysmic variable stars, Cambridge Astrophysics Series, (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press)
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3458

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item