Accretion Processes in Mira AB
Raymond, J. C.; Marengo, M.; Karovska, M.; Hack, W.; Wood, B.; Guinan, E.
United States
Abstract
The Mira AB interacting binary provides an ideal laboratory for studying mass loss and accretion processes in systems containing an AGB star and a compact accretor, because its components have been resolved and can be studied individually. We present here results from our long term study of accretion processes in this system. These include recent HST observations suggesting that the accretion rate onto Mira B is much lower than before, indicating possible disruption of the accretion disk.