RAT J1953+1859: a dwarf nova discovered through high amplitude QPOs in quiescence
Abstract
We report the discovery of an accreting binary, RAT J1953+1859, made during the RApid Temporal Survey (RATS) on the Isaac Newton Telescope. It showed high amplitude (0.3 mag) quasi-periodic oscillations on a timescale of ~20 mins. Further observations made using the Nordic Optical Telescope showed it to be ~4 mag brighter than in the discovery images. These photometric observations, together with radial velocity data taken using the William Herschel Telescope, point to an orbital period of ~90 mins. These data suggest that RAT J1953+1859 is a dwarf novae of the SU UMa type. What makes RAT J1953+1859 unusual is that it is the first such system to be discovered as a result of high amplitude QPOs during quiescence. This suggests that high-cadence wide-field surveys could be another means to discover cataclysmic variables as a result of their short period variability.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0904.4211,
title = {RAT J1953+1859: a dwarf nova discovered through high amplitude QPOs in quiescence},
author = {Gavin Ramsay and Pasi Hakala and Thomas Barclay and Peter Wheatley and George Marshall and Harry Lehto and Ralf Napiwotzki and Gijs Nelemans and Stephen Potter and Ian Todd},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0904.4211},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in MNRAS