The light curve of the magnetic star AM - Herculis

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Binary Stars, Brightness, Cataclysmic Variables, Irregular Variable Stars, Magnetic Stars, Stellar Luminosity, White Dwarf Stars, Simulation, Stellar Mass Accretion, Stellar Models, Variations

Scientific paper

AM - Herculis is a cataclysmic variable binary system, containing a strongly magnetic white-dwarf primary, accreting matter from a red, low-mass secondary. Since its discovery, 14 years ago, this system, and others of the same type which were discovered since then, have been the object of much interest, thought and studies. In this work the optical light curve of the system is studied, in order to search for modulations of the observed primary minimum time, and to construct a geometrical model for the system that will simulate its observed light curve. Modulations of the primary minimum times, if found, may be caused by modulations of the system's period, implying the existence of physical processes. Within the framework of this study, observations of the system were carried out at the Wise Observatory in Mitzpe Ramon. The search for primary minimum time modulations was based on these observations, and on earlier observational results. The system's optical light curve is quite unstable; its intensity and shape vary within short periods of time. A simulation of the light curve using a simple geometrical model, and some simple basic assumptions, and without considering complicated physical processes, implies that most of the features of the system's light curve are accounted for by the geometrical structure of the system, and changes in a few parameters in the model can account for the variations in the light curve from one observation to another.

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