Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2006-08-04
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
14 pages, 3 figures; Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in press
Scientific paper
10.1086/507956
RBS (Rosat Bright Source) 0490 is a cataclysmic variable star (CV) with unusually strong emission lines. The strength of the emission lines led to a suggestion that the object is intrinsically faint and correspondingly nearby (approx. 33 pc), which, if true, would strongly affect estimates of the CV space density. Here we report astrometry, filter photometry, and time-series spectroscopy of this object. The astrometry gives an absolute parallax pi(abs) = 4.5 +- 1.5 mas and a relative proper motion of 102 mas/yr. A Bayesian procedure gives a very uncertain distance estimate of d approx. 300 pc, and the small parallax alone implies d > 133 pc (at two standard deviations). The mean V magnitude is 17.4, which implies M_V = 10.9 - 5 log (d/200 pc), neglecting extinction. At 200 pc, the space velocity would be over 90 km/s with respect to the LSR. The time-series spectroscopy shows a possible emission-line radial-velocity period near 46 min. This would be unusually short for an orbital period and it may represent some other clock in the system.
Lepine Sebastien
Shara Michael M.
Thorstensen John R.
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