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   PR # 42031
   WZ Sagittae is one of the most famous and extensively studied
   cataclysmic variables. Optical/UV spectrophotometry shows a continuum
   matched by a 15000 K white dwarf, with little room for actual
   accretion light. After this nonaccretion light is subtracted, the
   star remains with Lx/Lopt = 30, a surprisingly high ratio for any
   plausible accretion theory. Another feature difficult to understand
   is the very high spindown rate inferred from the 28 s optical
   pulsations. An elegant solution to both problems would be achieved if
   the white dwarf is predominantly a "propellor" in quiescence, with
   the X-rays generated not in an accretion shock, but in the tangled,
   field-entrained plasma at the magnetosphere. This hypothesis can be
   tested by a good-quality X-ray spectrum.
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