English

HW Bootis: an enigmatic cataclysmic variable star

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2014-12-16 v1

Abstract

We present the 13-year light curve of HW Boo between 2001 May and 2014 May. We identified 12 outbursts, which typically lasted 2 to 5 days, with an amplitude of 2.7 to 3.6 magnitudes. Time resolved photometry during two outbursts revealed small hump-like structures which increased in size as the outburst progressed, reaching a peak-to-peak amplitude of ~0.8 mag. They occurred on timescales of 15 min to an hour, but did not exhibit a stable period. Similar irregular hump-like variations of 0.1 to 0.8 magnitudes, at intervals of 7 to 30 minutes, were also detected during quiescence. We discuss whether HW Boo might be a dwarf nova of the SU UMa family or an Intermediate Polar, but require further observations to support classification.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1412.4364,
  title  = {HW Bootis: an enigmatic cataclysmic variable star},
  author = {Jeremy Shears and David Boyd and Graham Darlington and Ian Miller and Roger Pickard and Gary Poyner and Richard Sabo and Mike Simonsen and William Stein},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1412.4364},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

14 pages, 5 Figures. Accepted for publication in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association

R2 v1 2026-06-22T07:30:41.730Z