The Evolution of Disks and Winds in Dwarf Novae Outbursts
/ Authors
/ Abstract
. Far ultraviolet (FUV) observations are excellent probes of the inner accretion disk, disk outflows, and the mass-accumulating white dwarf in cataclysmic variables. Here we study the contrasting behavior of two canonical dwarf novae in outburst by presenting FUSE FUV (904 – 1187 ˚A) spectroscopy of U Gem and SS Cyg. We observed each system four times during a single outburst. The outburst peak and early decline spectra of SS Cyg are well fit by models of a steady-state accretion disk and a biconical wind. A broad, blueshifted OVI wind-formed absorption line is the only strong spectral feature. In late outburst decline, O VI and C III lines are seen as broad emission features and the continuum has flattened. In U Gem, the continua of the optical outburst plateau spectra are plausibly fit by accretion disk model spectra. The spectra also show numerous narrow, low-velocity absorption lines that do not originate in the inner accretion disk. We discuss the line spectra in the context of partial absorption of the FUV continuum by low-velocity, vertically-extended material located at large disk radii.