[vsnet-chat 2889] Re: TV Col very brief brightening

[Alon Retter <ar@astro.keele.ac.uk>]

> I wonder if this phenomenon is similar to the flickering event, refered 
> to by Dr. F Bateson? 

I don't know much about flickering, but I believe that this is a different
phenomenon. The flickering events have shorter time scales of the order of
minutes-hours, while mini-outbursts - hours-days. The flickering
amplitudes are also usually smaller than what I've just mentioned for
mini-outbursts. Flickering is understood as evidence for disc accretion,
and can teach us about the accretion disc itself, while mini-outbursts
have been observed also in magnetic systems. There is also some evidence
that the mechanism is caused by small perturbations in the mass transfer
from the secondary star. 

Alon
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