V471 Tau is a spectroscopic and eclipsing binary system located in the Hyades cluster. The binary consists of a K2V and a hot DA white dwarf star (Nelson and Young 1970). Soft x-ray observations reveal strong modulation at periods of 554.7 ± 0.3s and 277.5 ± 0.1s (Jensen 1985, Jensnen et al. 1986).

Robinson et al. (1988) reported the detection of the 555 s period in the optical. This period was about a factor of 20 reduced in mean amplitude in their data relative to the soft x-ray amplitude. They also found that it varied in amplitude from run to run by more than a factor of 2.5, dropping below detectability on several runs. They found some evidence for the 277.5 s period in several runs, but never at high enough amplitude to measure reliably. In addition, they noted that several of their runs had statistically significant power at other frequencies, but noted that in their six runs none of the additional frequencies repeated themselves. Robinson et al. also used observations near the eclipse of the white dwarf to demonstrate that most of the pulsed light is coming from the white dwarf.