Observations of Cataclysmic Variable and Double Degenerate Stars

Abstract

In this chapter I will discuss cataclysmic variable stars and close pairs of white dwarfs or “double degenerates”. These stars are connected through their evolution, but in this case also because they are personal interests of mine. The detailed topics that I discuss are also personal choices and I make no attempt to be comprehensive in my coverage. The reader is referred to Brian Warner’s book [104] for such a treatment of cataclysmic variable stars. The theory behind the accretion discs which play such a key rôle in these objects is covered elsewhere in this volume by J. Smak.