An accurate geometric distance to the compact binary SS Cygni vindicates accretion disc theory

Abstract

Dwarf novae are white dwarfs accreting matter from a nearby red dwarf companion. Their regular outbursts are explained by a thermal-viscous instability in the accretion disc, described by the disc instability model that has since been successfully extended to other accreting systems. However, the prototypical dwarf nova, SS Cygni, presents a major challenge to our understanding of accretion disc theory. At the distance of 159 +/- 12 pc measured by the Hubble Space Telescope, it is too luminous to be undergoing the observed regular outbursts. Using very long baseline interferometric radio observations, we report an accurate, model-independent distance to SS Cygni that places the source significantly closer at 114 +/- 2 pc. This reconciles the source behavior with our understanding of accretion disc theory in accreting compact objects.

21 pages (8 as Supplementary Material), 3 figures (1 in the Supplementary Material). This is the authors' version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science in Vol. 340 no. 6135 on 24 May 2013

References in corpus (9)

• DiFX: A software correlator for very long baseline interferometry using multi-processor computing environments
• VLBA determination of the distance to nearby star-forming regions I. The distance to T Tauri with 0.4% accuracy
• A transient radio jet in an erupting dwarf nova
• Astrometric accuracy of phase-referenced observations with the VLBA and EVN
• Barnes-Evans relations for dwarfs with an application to the determination of distances to cataclysmic variables
• The thermal-viscous disk instability model in the AGN context
• The dwarf nova SS Cygni: what is wrong?
• ADAFs, accretion discs and outbursts in compact binaries
• Precision Southern Hemisphere pulsar VLBI astrometry: techniques and results for PSR J1559-4438

Cited by in corpus (37)

• X-ray Emissions from Accreting White Dwarfs: a Review
• A Volume Limited Sample of Cataclysmic Variables from $Gaia$ DR2: Space Density and Population Properties
• Micro-Arcsecond Radio Astrometry
• Deep radio imaging of 47 Tuc identifies the peculiar X-ray source X9 as a new black hole candidate
• The Distances to Novae As Seen By Gaia
• The Impact of Accretion Disk Winds on the Optical Spectra of Cataclysmic Variables
• Testing the disk instability model of cataclysmic variables
• The variability timescales and brightness temperatures of radio flares from stars to supermassive black holes
• The Gaia reference frame for bright sources examined using VLBI observations of radio stars
• Ideas for Citizen Science in Astronomy
• Dwarf nova-type cataclysmic variable stars are significant radio emitters
• Dwarf nova outbursts in intermediate polars
• Comparison of Gaia DR2 Parallaxes of Stars with VLBI Astrometry
• The reproducible radio outbursts of SS Cygni
• Towards a volumetric census of close white dwarf binaries I.Reference samples
• Anomalous Z Cam stars: a response to mass-transfer outbursts
• Astrometric observations of X-ray binaries using very long baseline interferometry
• The case for jets in cataclysmic variables
• Rapid Radio Flaring during an Anomalous Outburst of SS Cyg
• A Systematic X-ray Study of the Dwarf Novae Observed with Suzaku
• Distances of CVs and related objects derived from Gaia Data Release 1
• Roche tomography of cataclysmic variables - VIII: The irradiated and spotted dwarf nova, SS Cygni
• The MAVERIC survey: A hidden pulsar and a black hole candidate in ATCA radio imaging of the globular cluster NGC 6397
• Abundance Derivations for the Secondary Stars in Cataclysmic Variables from Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
• The Relationship Between X-ray Luminosity and Duty Cycle for Dwarf Novae and their Specific Frequency in the Inner Galaxy
• Hystereses in dwarf nova outbursts and low-mass X-ray binaries
• Observational tests of the picture of disk accretion
• Late-outburst radio flaring in SS Cyg and evidence for a powerful kinetic output channel in cataclysmic variables
• On the Hubble Space Telescope Trigonometric Parallax of the Dwarf Nova SS Cygni
• Parameters of the Link between the Optical and Radio Frames from Gaia DR2 Data and VLBI Measurements
• The Fast Evolving, Tremendous and Blue Superoutburst in ASASSN-21au Reveals a Dichotomy in the Outbursts of Long-period AM CVns
• Fourier time lags in the dwarf nova SS Cygni
• Residual HCRF Rotation relative to the Inertial Coordinate System
• Validating the bright Gaia celestial reference frame with new VLBI astrometry of radio stars
• Interstellar Absorption Lines in the Direction of the Cataclysmic Variable SS Cygni
• A MeerKAT survey of nearby dwarf novae: I. New detections
• Detection of the Supercycle in V4140 Sagittarii: First Eclipsing ER Ursae Majoris-like Object