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[40.10] HST Spectroscopy of the cooling of the Dwarf Nova WZ Sge following the unexpected July 2001 Outburst.

P. Godon, E.M. Sion (Villanova University)

We present Hubble Space Telescope STIS E140M spectra (1150=1708 Å) of the dwarf nova WZ Sge following the early superoutburst of July 2001. We obtained seven FUV spectra (Sep., Oct., Nov. Dec. 2001 and May, June, Aug. 2002) covering a time span of a little more than one year. We monitor changes in the hot component of the system during the decline phase when accretion has declined and cooling is occuring. We successfully fit the STIS data with synthetic spectra of single temperature white dwarf models. Preliminary results indicate a cooling of the white dwarf, in response to the outburst, of more than 11,000K (we expect a cooling of about 14,000K, the work is still in progress at the time of writting). In addition we are using a one-dimensional quasi-static evolution code to model the heating and cooling of the white dwarf as a function of time. This will help us to determine the mass and radius of the accreting white dwarf with more precision.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.