Abstract
The Her X-l/HZ Her system consists of a neutron star with a rotation period of 1.24 s orbiting a ‘normal’ stellar companion every 1.7 d. Variation in optical and ultraviolet magnitude is attributed to X-ray heating on the side facing the active neutron star with some contribution from X-ray heating of the disk. The system also has a 35-day period in which the X-ray emission displays so-called main and short ‘on’ states separated by relative X-ray quiescence. The 1.7-day optical flux variations continue throughout the 35-day period. No clear consensus exists as to the origin of the 35-day period; a popular interpretation is that of occultation of the compact X-ray source by a tilted, precessing, accretion disk.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Cheng, F.H., Vrtilek, S.D., Raymond, J.C., 1995, Ap. J., 452, 825
Cheng, F.H., Vrtilek, S.D., Raymond, J.C., 1996, these proceedings, p381
Ghosh, P., Lamb, F.K., 1979, Ap. J., 234, 296
Howarth, I.D., Wilson, B., 1983, MNRAS, 202, 347
Vrtilek, S.D., Mihara, T., Primini, F.A., et al., 1994, Ap. J., 436, L9
Vrtilek, S.D., Raymond, J.C., Garcia, M.R., et al., 1990, A&A, 235, 162
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this paper
Cite this paper
Vrtilek, S.D., Cheng, F.H. (1996). Accretion Disk Dynamics of Her X-l. In: Evans, A., Wood, J.H. (eds) Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 208. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0325-8_115
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0325-8_115
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6632-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0325-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive