The photometric period in ES Ceti

Details The photometric period in ES Ceti The photometric period in ES Ceti

2011-01-18

arxiv.org/abs/1101.3437v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 8 pages with 2 figures and 1 table. This revision corrects some typographical errors in Tab

Scientific paper

We present ULTRACAM photometry of ES Cet, an ultracompact binary with a 620s orbital period. The mass transfer in systems such as this one is thought to be driven by gravitational radiation, which causes the binary to evolve to longer periods since the semi-degenerate donor star expands in size as it loses mass. We supplement these ULTRACAM+WHT data with observations made with smaller telescopes around the world over a nine year baseline. All of the observations show variation on the orbital period, and by timing this variation we track the period evolution of this system. We do not detect any significant departure from a linear ephemeris, implying a donor star that is of small mass and close to a fully degenerate state. This finding favours the double white dwarf formation channel for this AM CVn star. An alternative explanation is that the system is in the relatively short-lived phase in which the mass transfer rate climbs towards its long-term value.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The photometric period in ES Ceti does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The photometric period in ES Ceti, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The photometric period in ES Ceti will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-286897