Abstract
We have carried out a combined Hubble Space Telescope (HST/GHRS) and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) analysis of the prototype dwarf nova SS Cygni during quiescence. The FUSE and HST spectra were obtained at comparable times after outburst and have matching flux levels where the two spectra overlap. From the best‐fit model solutions to the combined HST +FUSE spectral energy distribution, we find that the white dwarf is reaching a temperature Teff≈45–55,000 K in quiescence, assuming log(g) = 8.3 with a solar composition accreted atmosphere. We discuss two challenges to understanding the cooling of a white dwarf in response to heating by a dwarf nova accretion event. We present the most recent distribution of white dwarf temperatures versus orbital period in the context of the time‐averaged accretion rate and long term compressional heating models.
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