Cataclysmic Variables and the disc instability model in the Gaia DR3 colour-magnitude diagram

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Hauptverfasser: Dubus, Guillaume, Babusiaux, Carine
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Dubus, Guillaume
Babusiaux, Carine
author_facet Dubus, Guillaume
Babusiaux, Carine
contents Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) are semi-detached binaries composed of a white dwarf orbiting a lower-mass K or M star. We investigate whether CVs are responsible for a new intriguing feature (the `hook') that appears in the Gaia DR3 colour-magnitude Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) when selecting sources with low extinction. We also aim to understand the location of CVs in the HRD based on the predictions of the disc instability model (DIM). The DIM is the foundation on which rests our basic understanding of stable (novae-like) and outbursting CVs (dwarf novae). We calculate the expected behaviour of CVs in the Gaia HRD taking into account the variable light contributed by the accretion disc, the companion, the white dwarf, and from the bright spot where the Roche lobe overflow stream from the companion intersects the disc. We find that the `hook' feature is most likely to be composed of CVs. The `hook' corresponds to the limited region where stable CVs (novae-likes) must be located in the HRD according to the DIM, with the bluest systems having the shortest orbital period. Unstable systems, giving rise to dwarf novae outbursts, trace counterclockwise loops in the HRD. The overall behaviour is consistent with the location of the various CV subtypes in the HRD. These results can be used as a basis to pinpoint interesting outliers in the HRD, either due to their location or their tracks. These outliers may signal new subtypes such as cold, stable CVs with truncated discs, or may challenge the disc instability model.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_12206
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cataclysmic Variables and the disc instability model in the Gaia DR3 colour-magnitude diagram
Dubus, Guillaume
Babusiaux, Carine
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) are semi-detached binaries composed of a white dwarf orbiting a lower-mass K or M star. We investigate whether CVs are responsible for a new intriguing feature (the `hook') that appears in the Gaia DR3 colour-magnitude Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) when selecting sources with low extinction. We also aim to understand the location of CVs in the HRD based on the predictions of the disc instability model (DIM). The DIM is the foundation on which rests our basic understanding of stable (novae-like) and outbursting CVs (dwarf novae). We calculate the expected behaviour of CVs in the Gaia HRD taking into account the variable light contributed by the accretion disc, the companion, the white dwarf, and from the bright spot where the Roche lobe overflow stream from the companion intersects the disc. We find that the `hook' feature is most likely to be composed of CVs. The `hook' corresponds to the limited region where stable CVs (novae-likes) must be located in the HRD according to the DIM, with the bluest systems having the shortest orbital period. Unstable systems, giving rise to dwarf novae outbursts, trace counterclockwise loops in the HRD. The overall behaviour is consistent with the location of the various CV subtypes in the HRD. These results can be used as a basis to pinpoint interesting outliers in the HRD, either due to their location or their tracks. These outliers may signal new subtypes such as cold, stable CVs with truncated discs, or may challenge the disc instability model.
title Cataclysmic Variables and the disc instability model in the Gaia DR3 colour-magnitude diagram
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.12206