2002/12/02 by P. Kahabka, Kahabka, P.
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0212037
To appear in Compact Stellar X-Ray Sources, eds. W.H.G. Lewin and M. van der Klis, Cambridge University Press
arxiv created 2002/12/02 · openalex publication_date 2002/12/02 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The class of Super Soft Sources has been established after discoveries performed with the Einstein and the ROSAT satellite. Only sources contributing to the class of super-soft X-ray binaries are considered. The X-ray emission in these sources is due to thermonuclear burning of accreted material on the surface of a white dwarf. The physical process of nuclear burning is described. The typical timescales of variability in these sources are discussed. The appearance and modeling of supersoft X-ray spectra are described. The phenomena related to the accretion disk in these sources are outlined. A discussion of the nature and appearance of the donor star is given. The evolutionary state of these sources and their likely progenitorship for Type Ia supernovae is shortly outlined. A summary of recent discoveries with Chandra and XMM-Newton of super-soft sources in nearby spiral and elliptical galaxies is given.