Supersoft X-ray sources as transient phases of cataclysmic variable evolution
Cataclysmic binaries first reaching mass transfer with marginally stable mass ratios can achieve mass transfer rates high enough to sustain stable hydrogen burning and become supersoft X-ray sources. Such systems are concentrated in orbital period just above the period gap, and can, in the most favo...
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| Format: | Conference item |
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2001
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| Summary: | Cataclysmic binaries first reaching mass transfer with marginally stable mass ratios can achieve mass transfer rates high enough to sustain stable hydrogen burning and become supersoft X-ray sources. Such systems are concentrated in orbital period just above the period gap, and can, in the most favorable circumstances, achieve X-ray lifetimes in excess of 3 x 10(5) yr. They have white dwarfs of moderate mass (0.7 - 0.9 M.), and may therefore tend to lower X-ray temperatures and luminosities than the more populous, longer-period supersoft sources with donor masses exceeding similar to 1.5 M.. Their properties offer a direct probe of orbital angular momentum loss rates. |
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