PhD in Astronomy, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Telephone:+56 32 299 5551
E-mail: claus.tappert@uv.cl
Research
Cataclysmic variables, binary stars, novae.
I am mainly working on cataclysmic variables (CVs). These are
interacting binary stars, where the primary component (the more massive
one) is a white dwarf, and the secondary component is a main-sequence
(like) star of spectral type K-M. The latter fills its Roche lobe and
thus transfers material into the gravitational regime of the primary.
Depending on the size of the white dwarf’s magnetic field, this material
is accreted by the primary either via an accretion disc, or along the
magnetic field lines.
In the past I have been working on various aspects of CV-related
phenomena, but my current interest concerns the evolution of these
objects, and specifically the role of the nova eruption. This has now
led me to the study of the nova ejecta (nova shells), primarily as an
indicator for a former nova eruption, but I am also slowly getting into
their physics and what they can tell us about the eruption itself.
