Determination of Size of the Emitting Region in Eclipsing Cataclysmic Variable Stars

TL;DR

This paper develops models to determine the size of the emitting region in eclipsing cataclysmic variable stars, analyzing eclipse phases and light curve durations to improve understanding of these systems.

Contribution

It introduces a comparison between spherical and elliptical models for eclipse analysis, providing more accurate estimates of the emitting region in such stars.

Findings

Parameters of eclipses in a specific polar were estimated.

Elliptical projection model offers improved accuracy over spherical approximation.

Results enhance understanding of the structure of eclipsing cataclysmic variables.

Abstract

The dependencies of the phase of eclipse of the white dwarf's centre and the durations of the ascending and descending branches of the light curve on the binary system's parameters were computed using the spherically-symmetric approximation and the more accurate model of the elliptical projection onto the celestial sphere of the companion (red dwarf) that fills its Roche lobe. The parameters of eclipses in the classical eclipsing polar OTJ 071126+440405 = CSS 081231:071126+440405 were estimated.