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S.A. Drake (USRA and NASA/GSFC), N.E. White (NASA/GSFC), M. Guedel (Paul Scherrer Inst., Switzerland), J.S. Kaastra, R. Mewe (SRON, Netherlands), T. Simon (Univ. of Hawaii), K.P. Singh (TIFR, India)
On April 1st 2000, we obtained a 52 kilosecond HETG/ACIS-S spectrum of the protypical evolved binary Algol. This active binary has an orbital period of 2.87 days, and contains a primary B8V star, and a secondary K2 IV star which is filling its Roche lobe and rotating in synchronism with the orbital period. The observation commenced during secondary eclipse, and, as the secondary came into view, it was evident that a large flare was in process. The durations of the `rising' and declining phases of this flare were about 5 and 7 ks, respectively, although the former timescale almost certainly is the eclipse modulation timescale and not the actual true flare rise time. We compare and contrast the flare spectrum, and derived quantities such as the DEM, coronal densities, and metal abundances, with the observed spectrum and inferred parameters of the corona during the last 30 ksec of the observation when the system was essentially quiescent. We also discuss evidence for kinematical effects such as line broadening due to turbulence, Doppler shifts, and the orbital motion of the secondary.
This research was supported by NASA through funding obtained from the Chandra General Observer Project, Cycle 1.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: steve.drake@gsfc.nasa.gov