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GALEX AND OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF GW LIBRAE DURING THE LONG DECLINE FROM SUPEROUTBURST*

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Eric Bullock1, Paula Szkody1, Anjum S. Mukadam1, Bernardo W. Borges2, Luciano Fraga3, Boris T. Gänsicke4, Thomas E. Harrison5, Arne Henden6, Jon Holtzman5, Steve B. Howell7, Warrick A. Lawson8, Stephen Levine9,10, Richard M. Plotkin1,11, Mark Seibert12, Matthew Templeton6, Johanna Teske13, and Frederick J. Vrba9

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The prototype of accreting, pulsating white dwarfs (GW Lib) underwent a large amplitude dwarf nova outburst in 2007. We used ultraviolet data from Galaxy Evolution Explorer and ground-based optical photometry and spectroscopy to follow GW Lib for three years following this outburst. Several variations are apparent during this interval. The optical shows a superhump modulation in the months following outburst, while a 19 minute quasi-periodic modulation lasting for several months is apparent in the year after outburst. A long timescale (about 4 hr) modulation first appears in the UV a year after outburst and increases in amplitude in the following years. This variation also appears in the optical two years after outburst but is not in phase with the UV. The pre-outburst pulsations are not yet visible after three years, likely indicating the white dwarf has not returned to its quiescent state.


Footnote
*  Based on observations made with the NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer and with the Apache Point Observatory (APO) 3.5 m telescope. GALEX is operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology under NASA contract NAS5-98034. APO is owned and operated by the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC).
Keywords

novae, cataclysmic variables; stars: individual (GW Lib); stars: oscillations


Dates

Issue 3 (2011 March)

Received 2010 November 23, accepted for publication 2010 December 21

Published 2011 February 4

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