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Supersoft X-ray sources: Confronting the van den Heuvel paradigm

Charles, P. A.; Heathcote, B.; McGowan, K. E. +3 more

The origin of the extremely soft (low temperature) X-rays produced in the supersoft X-ray sources (or SSS) has been a subject of debate for much of the 25 years since their discovery. The currently accepted paradigm is that they are Eddington-limited accreting white dwarfs in which the accreted material is undergoing steady nuclear burning, thereb…