Related papers: Testing the planetary models of HU Aquarii
Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are observed in the optical flux of some polars with typical periods of 1 to 3 s but none have been observed yet in X-rays where a significant part of the accreting energy is released. QPOs are expected…
IGR J16493-4348 is an eclipsing supergiant high-mass X-ray binary (sgHMXB), where accretion onto the compact object occurs via the radially outflowing stellar wind of its early B-type companion. We present an analysis of the system's X-ray…
The evolution of planetary systems around white dwarfs is crucial to understanding the presence of planetary material in the atmospheres of white dwarfs. These systems uniquely probe exoplanetary compositions. Periodic signals in the…
HS0907+1902 was recently discovered to be one of a handful of deeply eclipsing dwarf novae with periods longward of the 2 -- 3 hr `gap'. This paper presents orbit-resolved spectra and time series photometry of an eclipse. The apparent…
We report the results of a twenty-eight-month photometric campaign studying V1432 Aql, the only known eclipsing, asynchronous polar. Our data show that both the residual eclipse flux and eclipse O-C timings vary strongly as a function of…
The orbital period evolution of X-ray binaries provides fundamental clues to understanding mechanisms of angular momentum loss from these systems. We present an X-ray eclipse timing analysis of the transient low mass X-ray binary AX…
We report simultaneous UBVRI photo-polarimetric observations of the long period (7.98 h) AM Her binary V1309 Ori. The length and shape of the eclipse ingress and egress varies from night to night. We suggest this is due to the variation in…
HS Hydrae is a short period eclipsing binary (P_orb=1.57 day) that belongs to a rare group of systems observed to have rapidly changing inclinations. This evolution is due to a third star on an intermediate orbit, and results in significant…
We report the identification of cyclical changes in the orbital period of the eclipsing cataclysmic variable HT Cas. We measured new white dwarf mid-eclipse timings and combined with published measurements to construct an…
The X-ray source RX J0648.0-4418 is the only confirmed binary system in which a compact object, most likely a massive white dwarf, accretes from a hot subdwarf companion, the bright sdO star HD 49798. The X-ray emission from this system is…
R Aqr is a symbiotic binary system consisting of a Mira variable with a pulsation period of 387 days and a hot companion which is presumably a white dwarf with an accretion disk. This binary system is the source of a prominent bipolar…
We present simultaneous EUV and infrared (J,K) observations of the polar HU Aqr obtained during August 1998 when the star was in a high mass accretion state. EUV and IR light curves and EUV spectra are presented and compared with previous…
The post common-envelope eclipsing binary HW Virginis has had many circumbinary companions proposed based on eclipse timing variations. Each proposed solution has lacked in predictability and orbital stability, leaving the origin of the…
The expected distributions of eclipse-depth versus period for eclipsing binaries of different luminosities are derived from large-scale population synthesis experiments. Using the rapid Hurley et al. BSE binary evolution code, we have…
White dwarfs with a F, G or K type companion represent the last common ancestor for a plethora of exotic systems throughout the galaxy, though to this point very few of them have been fully characterised in terms of orbital period and…
We present preliminary results of long-term monitoring of the peculiar cataclysmic variable FS Aurigae conducted during the 2010-2011 observational season. The multicolor observations revealed, for the first time in photometric data, the…
We analyse the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey light curves of 835 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarf plus main-sequence binaries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with g<19, in search of new eclipsing systems. We identify…
Accreting white dwarfs are often found in close binary systems with orbital periods ranging from tens of minutes to several hours. In most cases, the accretion process is relatively steady, with significant modulations only occurring on…
We carry out high-speed photometry on 20 of the shortest-period, detached white dwarf binaries known and discover systems with eclipses, ellipsoidal variations (due to tidal deformations of the visible white dwarf), and Doppler beaming. All…
The quasi-periodic feature of 1-10 years exhibited in pulsar timing noise has not been well understood since 1980. The recently demonstrated correlation between timing noise and variation of pulse profile motivates us to further investigate…