The Extreme Ultraviolet Emission Lines of Some Cataclysmic Variables at Outburst

Authors: ROMANUS N. C. EZE

Abstract: Using spectral technique, analyses of some astrophysical data from the EUVE satellite in the Extreme Ultraviolet region on accretion disk of some cataclysmic variable were carried out. A number of strong emission lines in 14 CVs were discovered. Most CVs follow a similar trend in the number of ionized elements present in their spectrum while some have very few or no ionized elements in their spectrum. The AM Herculis star, which has the weakest magnetic field of all seven magnetic CVs studied, contain no ionized elements in its EUVE spectroscopy. However, for the rest of the CVs, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the accretion disks of CVs are highly ionized. This implies also that the accretion disks of other astrophysical objects could be equally highly ionized. This result is in agreement with the suggestion that the most promising candidate for providing the angular momentum transport mechanism during the outburst is magneto hydrodynamics turbulence.

Keywords: Emission lines, accretion disks and Cataclysmic Variables.

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