The cataclysmic variable AE Aquarii: B–V color of the flares

Abstract

We report simultaneous observations of the flaring behavior of the cataclysmic variable star AE Aquarii (AE Aqr). The observations are in Johnson B and V bands. The color–magnitude diagrams (B–Vvs. V and B–Vvs. B) show that the star becomes more blue as it becomes brighter. In our model, AE Aqr's behavior can be explained with flares (fireballs) with 0.03⩽B–V⩽0.30, and temperature in the interval 8000⩽T⩽12000.