[15] A. P. Linnell produced the first photoelectric light curve of the system in 1950, finding that the brightness underwent an increase just prior to the primary eclipse.

In 1974, R. E. Nather and E. L. Robinson proposed that the hot component is a white dwarf surrounded by a optically thick, orbiting disk of gas.

The hot spot on the disk is formed by a stream of gas from the donor secondary star, and is the main source of the rapid flickering from the system.

[14] The observed light curve can be reproduced by an orbital inclination of ~75° to the line of sight to the earth, with the white dwarf being almost completely obscured by its accretion disk.

[11] UX UMa is considered an archetypal example of nova-like variables that are always in a high accretion state, showing bright steady disks.