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Context. The standard stellar model atmosphere ignores the influence of external radiation. This assumption, while sufficient for most stars, fails for many short-period binaries. Aims. In setting up combined model atmospheres for close binaries, we want to constrain the parameters of both components, especially in the case of a hot primary component strongly influencing its cool secondary companion. This situation can be found after common envelope evolution (CEE). The status of both components today allows one to retrace the CEE itself. Methods. We used our stellar atmosphere code PHOENIX, which includes the effect of irradiation in its radiation transport equation, to investigate the close binary star UU Sge. We combined our calculated spectra of both components, weighted by their visible size, and adjusted the input parameters until reasonable agreement with observations is reached. Results. We derive a range of 80 000−85 000 K for the effective temperature of the primary (Teff, p) and give a rough estimate for the primary’s abundances, particularly the nitrogen enrichment. The heated day-side of the secondary has an apparent “effective” or equilibrium temperature of 24 000−26 000 K, nearly independent of its intrinsic luminosity. It shows an enhancement in nitrogen and carbon. Conclusions. The evolution of the primary and secondary stars were strongly influenced by the other’s presence. Radiation from the primary on the secondary’s day-side is still an important factor in understanding the secondary’s atmospheric structure.

In close binary systems the atmosphere of one or both components can be significantly influenced by irradiation from the companion. Often the irradiated atmosphere is simulated with a single-temperature approximation for the entire half-sphere. We present a scheme to take the varying irradiation angle into account by combining several separate 1D models. This is independent of the actual code which provides the separate stellar spectra. We calculate the projected area of zones with given irradiation angle and use this geometrical factor to scale separate 1D models. As an example we calculate two different irradiation scenarios with the PHOENIX code. The scheme to calculate the projected area is applicable independent of the physical mechanism that forms these zones. In the case of irradiation by a primary with T=125000 K, the secondary forms ions at different ionisation states for different irradiation angles. No single irradiation angle exists which provides an accurate description of the spectrum. We show a similar simulation for weaker irradiation, where the profile of the H$\alpha$ line depends on the irradiation angle., Comment: published in A&A