Description
Cataclysmic variables, accreting white dwarfs in binaries, can zoom into and out of view of our telescopes in a matter of days or weeks, first brightening then fading, only to repeat this later the same year. This timescale of variability is a sign of the dwarf nova, a class of cataclysmic variable. The dwarf nova outburst is a change in the accretion disc of these systems, which not only increases the disc brightness spectacularly, but also enhances the accretion rate, which eventually causes the outburst to reach its end. A wealth of mostly optical data has enabled the development of models for these systems, which can account for the very diverse outburst behaviour found among the dwarf novae. Still, much remains unknown. For decades, it was believed that no significant radio emission is sent out during an outburst. But a pivotal radio study done with the VLA changed this picture completely: radio emission is common for dwarf novae. Yet, with only a few of these objects ever having been observed sending out radio emission, the field is still in its infancy. Over the past few years, we carried out a dwarf nova campaign with the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, with the goal to find radio emitting dwarf novae and to enhance our understanding of the radio emission and accretion process. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of this campaign, and share the most striking findings.
| Talk category | NOVA Network 3 |
|---|---|
| Preference for a talk or poster | Talk |
| Talk preference for PhD students | Last |
