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L. L. Clark (CTIO/SDSU), S. Wachter, D. W. Hoard (CTIO), T. Bowers (CTIO/UA)
Relatively little is known about the infrared (IR) properties of cataclysmic variables (CVs). Fortunately, advances in IR detector technology have recently made this region of the spectrum much more accessible. Investigating CVs in the IR wavelength regime contributes to our understanding of the properties of key system components that radiate strongly at wavelengths longer than the optical: the cool outer disk, accretion stream, and the secondary star. The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) is an ongoing project with the goal of imaging the entire sky down to completeness limits of J=15.8, H=15.1, and K=14.3 mag.
We present here a preliminary look at the group IR properties of the \approx500 CVs included in the 2MASS Second Incremental Data Release (March 2000) via IR color-color and color-magnitude diagrams. We will also provide a comparison of the homogenous 2MASS JHK magnitudes of these CVs with other published IR magnitudes (where available). The final product of this project (currently in preparation) will incorporate an IR atlas and catalog of all CVs detected by 2MASS. This catalog will contain a detailed analysis of their group IR properties as well as IR magnitudes and finding charts (and is intended as a companion resource to the invaluable optical CV catalogs of Downes & Shara and Downes et al.).
This research makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation.
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