Cyclotron spectroscopy of VV Puppis

Abstract

AbstractWe present phase‐resolved spectrophotometric observations of VV Puppis obtained during two different states of accretion. We confirm the detection of cyclotron lines from emission regions at both poles (Wickramasinghe et al. 1989) having significantly different field strength of B1 ≃ 31 MG and B2 ≃ 54 MG. Our phase‐resolved data allowed the detection of phase‐dependent wavelength shifts of the cyclotron lines from the main accretion pole which is due to the varying aspect of the observer. A corresponding motion of the cyclotron lines from the secondary pole appears likely.Compared to 1984, the cyclotron lines from the main pole appeared redshifted in 1989, during an episode of higher system brightness. This shift can be explained assuming either different locations of the accretion spot and, hence, variations of the magnetic field, or variations of the plasma temperature both triggered by variations of the mass accretion rate.The cyclotron lines from the second pole do not show such changes suggesting that the coupling region for the weakly accreting pole is more or less stationary whereas the coupling region of the main pole varies in space, most likely depending on the mass accretion rate.