FUSE Observations of Active Binaries

Abstract

FUSE observations have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the physical properties and behavior of active binary systems, including cataclysmic variables (CVs) and X-ray binaries (XRBs). FUSE data have allowed observers to study: accretion disks, magnetically-channeled accretion flow, and white dwarf accretors, and how these respond to accretion fluctuations and disk outbursts; the role of binary evolution in determining system properties; the vertical and azimuthal structure in disks and disk winds; and what the variations in active binary properties reveal about accretion physics in compact systems. Results of FUSE observations of active binaries are reviewed here.