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Paper: Probing the Extended Atmosphere of V471 Tauri
Volume: 154, Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun: Tenth Cambridge Workshop
Page: 1431
Authors: Kim, Jinyoung Serena; Walter, Frederick M.
Abstract: Using IUE spectra, Guinan & Carroll (1990) showed the existence of hot structures with scale heights of order 1010 cm above the K2V star of the V471 Tau system, and inferred the presence of extended chromospheric loops. They did this by using the UV flux from the hot white dwarf as a pencil beam to probe the density and temperature structure of the chromosphere of the K2V star. We have repeated this observation using HST/GHRS, obtaining spectra with 0.5 second time resolution prior to ingress to eclipse of the white dwarf on 2 occasions. During each observation, the white dwarf traversed a linear distance of about 0.5R_K. In another sequence of data, we view the white dwarf through the L_4 Lagrangian point. We see clear variations in the absorption strengths of C 4 lambdalambda1548,1552, Si 4 lambdalambda1393,1402, C 2 lambda1335, and O 1 lambda1300, which suggest the presence of clumpy absorbing material with scale sizes of a few x 10^9 cm. Here we present the data and preliminary discussions of the structure of the extended gas in the V471 Tau system
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