ESA Science & Technology - X-rays from Cataclysmic Variables

Publication date: 01 February 2003

Authors: Lewin, W.H.G., & van der Klis, M.

Journal: Compact Stellar X-Ray Sources
Year: 2003

Copyright: Cambridge University Press

Cataclysmic Variables' (CVs) are a distinct class of interacting binaries, transferring mass from a donor star to a degenerate accretor, a white dwarf (WD). In all observational determinations, and as is required by theory for stable mass transfer, the donor star is of lower mass than the accretor.