RJ 051542+0104.7: A new magnetic, eclipsing, cataclysmic variable

Details RJ 051542+0104.7: A new magnetic, eclipsing, cataclysmic variable RJ 051542+0104.7: A new magnetic, eclipsing, cataclysmic variable

Nov 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994apj...435l.141g&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 435, no. 2, p. L141-L144

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

28

Cataclysmic Variables, Eclipsing Binary Stars, Red Dwarf Stars, Stellar Luminosity, Stellar Magnetic Fields, White Dwarf Stars, X Ray Binaries, Bremsstrahlung, Charge Coupled Devices, Morphology, Stellar Spectrophotometry, T Tauri Stars

Scientific paper

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of a recently identified X-ray bright, magnetic cataclysmic variable, RJ 051542+0104.7. The X-ray source was discovered serendipitously by Walter et al. (1994; Walter & Zoonematkermani 1994), and their data imply the presence of a heated white dwarf compatible with a magnetic accretion column. Buckley (1994) has reported the presence of circular polarization. Our optical photometry shows that the system undergoes eclipses with a period of 7.9835 +/- 0.0002 hours. The eclipse is 1 magnitude deep and appears to be total. Our spectra were all obtained near eclipse and show a strong blue continuum with broad Balmer emission as well as He II (4686 and 5411 A), C III/N III (4650 A) and He I lines. The blue continuum and emission lines disappear during eclipse, leaving only the spectrum of a M0 star. Using the observed magnitude during eclipse and ignoring interstellar extinction, the distance is approximately 500 pc. For the secondary to fill its Roche lobe, it must be at least 20% larger than that of a normal dM0 star. This may indicate the red dwarf is far from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) due to strong magnetic braking. We find evidence for cyclotron humps in the continuum spectrum which imply a magnetic field strength in the cyclotron emitting region of up to 55 MG. The unexpected existence of a long period AM Her system should provide constraints on models of polar evolution.

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