The EUVE Observations of Dwarf Novae

Abstract

In the standard theory of dwarf novae in outburst, the boundary layer region between the inner edge of the accretion disk and the white dwarf surface radiates primarily in the extreme ultraviolet. Using EUVE, observers have been able to obtain spectra with sufficient spectral resolution to characterize accurately the emission from several dwarf novae in outburst, including U Geminorum and SS Cygni. I present an overview of the observations and early analyses of the dwarf nova observations. The spectra obtained of dwarf novae are complex compared to the EUV spectra of magnetic cataclysmic variables and single white dwarfs. Detailed spectral modeling of an expanding atmosphere will most like be required to fully understand the spectra. Nevertheless, we already know there were significant differences in the effective temperatures and other properties of the EUV emissions. If we assume the EUV emission arises primarily from the boundary layer and parameterize the EUV spectrum in terms of a blackbody, then for U Gem the derived boundary luminosity is comparable to the disk luminosity, consistent with the standard theory, and the minimum size of the emitting region is about that of the white dwarf surface. The count rates from U Gem were modulated strongly with the orbital period; differences in the shape of the spectrum in eclipse and out of eclipse suggest that while the bulk of the emission arose from the vicinity of the white dwarf, there was an extended source of emission as well. For SS Cyg, however, the derived boundary layer luminosity was a small fraction of the disk luminosity. In U Gem, the effective temperature dropped during the decline from outburst. In contrast, in SS Cyg, the effective temperature remained constant as the count rate rose by a factor of 100 and the effective size increased. Thus while the observations of U Gem seem broadly consistent with the standard theory for the boundary layer emission from dwarf novae, SS Cyg appears to present fundamental challenges to that theory.