Abstract
The properties of the hot zone in the accretion flow near the surface of a magnetized white dwarf have been studied. For this purpose, the aperiodic optical variability of LS Peg, one of the brightest intermediate polars in the northern sky, has been investigated. The main radiation of the hot zone, which is then reemitted in the optical band, results from the radiation of an optically thin plasma heated during the passage of the accretion flow of a standing shock. Recently, Semena and Revnivtsev (2012) have shown that the aperiodic variability (flickering) of accreting magnetized white dwarfs should have a characteristic feature in the range of Fourier frequencies corresponding to the plasma cooling time in this hot region. The photometric brightness measurements for LS Peg made with the RTT-150 telescope using a high-speed ANDOR iXon CCD array have allowed the break frequency in the power spectrum of the source’s variability to be constrained. Constraints on the geometry of the accretion column for the white dwarf in LS Peg and on the plasma parameters in it have been obtained.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. Aizu, Prog. Theor. Phys. 49, 1184 (1973).
D. S. Baskill, P. J. Wheatley, and J. P. Osborne, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 357, 626 (2005).
G. Chanmugam, S. H. Langer, and G. Shaviv, Astrophys. J. 299, L87 (1985).
E. Churazov, M. Gilfanov, and M. Revnivtsev, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 321, 759 (2001).
S. H. Langer, G. Chanmugam, and G. Shaviv, Astrophys. J. 245, L23 (1981).
S. Larsson, Astron. Soc. Pacif. 85, 311 (1995).
Y. E. Lyubarskii, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 292, 679 (1997).
A.V. Mescheryakov, M. G. Revnivtsev, and E.V. Filippova, Astron. Lett. 37, 826 (2011).
A. Mignone, Astrophys. J. 626, 373 (2005).
G. Ramsay, P. J. Wheatley, A. J. Norton, P. Hakala, et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 387, 1157 (2008).
M. Revnivtsev, E. Churazov, K. Postnov, and S. Tsygankov, Astron. Astrophys. 507, 1211 (2009).
M. Revnivtsev, R. Burenin, F. Bikmaev, et al., Astron. Astrophys. 513, A63 (2010).
M. Revnivtsev, S. Potter, A. Kniazev, et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 411, 1317 (2011).
S. R. Rosen, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 254, 493 (1992).
C. J. Saxton and K. Wu, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 310, 677 (1999).
A. N. Semena and M.G. Revnivtsev, Astron. Lett. 38, 321 (2012).
C. J. Taylor, J. R. Thorstensen, and J. Patterson, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 111, 184 (1999)
K. Wu, G. Chanmugam, and G. Shaviv, Astrophys. J. 426, 664 (1994).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © A.N. Semena, M.G. Revnivtsev, I.M. Khamitov, R.A. Burenin, T. Ak, Z. Eker, M.N. Pavlinsky, 2013, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2013, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 255–264.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Semena, A.N., Revnivtsev, M.G., Khamitov, I.M. et al. Constraints on accretion column parameters for the intermediate polar LS Pegasi from the power spectrum of its optical light curve. Astron. Lett. 39, 227–236 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773713040051
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773713040051