English

Rapid Oscillations in Cataclysmic Variables. XV. HT Camelopardalis (= RX J0757.0+6306)

Astrophysics 2009-11-07 v1

Abstract

We present photometry and spectroscopy of HT Camelopardalis, a recently discovered X-ray-bright cataclysmic variable. The spectrum shows bright lines of H, He I, and He II, all moving with a period of 0.059712(1) d, which we interpret as the orbital period. The star's brightness varies with a strict period of 515.0592(2) s, and a mean full amplitude of 0.11 mag. These properties qualify it as a /bona fide/ DQ Herculis star (intermediate polar) -- in which the magnetism of the rapidly rotating white dwarf channels accretion flow to the surface. Normally at V=17.8, the star shows rare and very brief outbursts to V=12-13. We observed one in December 2001, and found that the 515 s pulse amplitude had increased by a factor of ~100 (in flux units). A transient orbital signal may also have appeared.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0204227,
  title  = {Rapid Oscillations in Cataclysmic Variables. XV. HT Camelopardalis (= RX J0757.0+6306)},
  author = {Jonathan Kemp and Joseph Patterson and John Thorstensen and Robert Fried and David Skillman and Gary Billings},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0204227},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

PDF, 19 pages, 3 tables, 6 figures; accepted, in press, to appear June 2002, PASP; more info at http://cba.phys.columbia.edu/