Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrum of AE Aquarii
Christopher W. Mauche (Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab.)

TL;DR
This study analyzes Chandra X-ray spectra of AE Aquarii, revealing a multi-temperature plasma with high-density regions near the white dwarf, challenging previous models of extended low-density X-ray sources.
Contribution
It provides detailed spectral analysis and evidence for high-density plasma close to the white dwarf, offering new insights into the X-ray emission mechanisms in AE Aqr.
Findings
X-ray spectrum fits a multi-temperature plasma model
Electron density increases with plasma temperature
X-ray emission lines show velocity oscillations with the white dwarf spin
Abstract
(Abridged) The results of a Chandra X-ray Observatory High-Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) observation of the nova-like cataclysmic binary AE Aqr are described. First, the X-ray spectrum is that of an optically thin multi-temperature thermal plasma; the X-ray emission lines are broad, with widths that increase with the line energy, from sigma~1 eV for O VIII to sigma~5.5 eV for Si XIV; the X-ray spectrum is reasonably well fit by a plasma model with a Gaussian emission measure distribution that peaks at log T(K)=7.16, has a width sigma=0.48, an Fe abundance equal to 0.44 times solar, and other metal (primarily Ne, Mg, and Si) abundances equal to 0.76 times solar; and for a distance d=100 pc, the total emission measure EM=8.0E53 cm^-3 and the 0.5-10 keV luminosity L_X=1.1E31 erg/s. Second, based on the f/(i+r) flux ratios of the forbidden (f), intercombination (i), and recombination…
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