The asynchronous polar V1432 Aquilae and its path back to synchronism
Abstract
V1432 Aquilae is the only known eclipsing asynchronous polar. In this respect it is unique and therefore merits our attention. We report the results of a 15-year campaign by the globally distributed Center for Backyard Astrophysics to observe V1432 Aql and investigate its return to synchronism. Originally knocked out of synchrony by a nova explosion before observing records began, the magnetic white dwarf in V1432 Aql is currently rotating slower than the orbital period but is gradually catching up. The fortuitously high inclination of the binary orbit affords us the bonus of eclipses providing a regular clock against which these temporal changes can be assessed. At the present rate, synchronism should be achieved around 2100. The continually changing trajectory of the accretion stream as it follows the magnetic field lines of the rotating white dwarf produces a complex pattern of light emission which we have measured and documented, providing comprehensive observational evidence against which physical models of the system can be tested.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1406.4061,
title = {The asynchronous polar V1432 Aquilae and its path back to synchronism},
author = {David Boyd and Joseph Patterson and William Allen and Greg Bolt and Michel Bonnardeau and Tut and Jeannie Campbell and David Cejudo and Michael Cook and Enrique de Miguel and Claire Ding and Shawn Dvorak and Jerrold Foote and Robert Fried and Franz-Josef Hambsch and Jonathan Kemp and Thomas Krajci and Berto Monard and Yenal Ogmen and Robert Rea and George Roberts and David Skillman and Donn Starkey and Joseph Ulowetz and Helena Uthas and Stan Walker},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1406.4061},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
14 pages, 16 figures, presented at the Society for Astronomical Sciences 33rd Annual Symposium on Telescope Science, June 2014, acknowledgements added