EUVE OBSERVATIONS OF ALGOL - DETECTION OF A CONTINUUM AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CORONAL [FE H] ABUNDANCE/

We report results from the first extreme ultraviolet spectrum of the p rototypical eclipsing binary Algol (beta Per), obtained with the spect rometers on the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE). The Algol spectru m in the 80-350 Angstrom range is dominated by emission lines of Fe XV I-XXIV, and the He II 304 Angstrom line. The Fe emission is characteri stic of high-temperature plasma at temperatures up to at least log T s imilar to 7.3 K. We have successfully modeled the observed quiescent s pectrum using a continuous emission measure distribution with the bulk of the emitting material at log T > 6.5. We are able to adequately fi t both the coronal lines and continuum data with a cosmic abundance pl asma, but only if Algol's quiescent corona is dominated by material at log T > 7.5, which is physically ruled out by prior X-ray observation s of the quiescent Algol spectrum. Since the coronal [Fe/H] abundance is the principal determinant of the line-to-continuum ratio in the EUV , allowing the abundance to be a free parameter results in models with a range of best-fit abundances approximate to 15%-40% of solar photos pheric [Fe/H]. Since Algol's photospheric [Fe/H] appears to be near-so lar, the anomalous EUV line-to-continuum ratio could either be the res ult of element segregation in the coronal formation process, or other, less likely mechanisms that may enhance the continuum with respect to the lines.