Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T04:27:09.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Spectroscopic and Photometric Study of 1H0542-407: A New Magnetic Variable

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

D. A. H. Buckley
Affiliation:
Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatories, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University
I. R. Tuohy
Affiliation:
Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatories, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University

Abstract

We report spectroscopic and photometric observations of the new DQ Hercuis system 1H0542-407, recently discovered by us to be the optical counterpart of a HEAO-1 X-ray source. Medium resolution spectroscopy using the AAT in the region λ3930 to λ4960 conducted over consecutive nights shows radial velocity variations at periods of ∼ 1910 s, consistent with the white dwarf rotation period, and 5.7 h, in agreement with the orbital period derived from our EXOSAT observations. The K semi-amplitude velocities are ∼ 50 and 20 km s-1 respectively, leading to a mass function f(M) = 3.3 ± 0.6 × 10-3M and an orbital inclination close to 20°. The emission line profiles are characterized by simple Gaussians whose FWHM vary at the rotation period. A time series analysis of high resolution photometry conducted on the ANU 2.3 metre telescope reveals the presence of several periodicities, including the orbital sidebands. The dominant sideband (Vr − Vo) arises from X-rays reprocessed in a region corotating at the orbital frequency. A model is developed for 1H0542-407 which indicates that the accretion disk is disrupted at ∼5Rwd by the primary’s magnetic field. The short period velocity variations arise within the magnetosphere. A white dwarf magnetic field strength of < ∼ 3 MG is implied.

Type
Stellar
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brissenden, R. G. V., Tuohy, I. R., Remillard, R. A., Buckley, D. A.H., Bicknell, G. V., Bradt, H. V., and Schwartz, D. A., 1987, Proc. Astron. Soc. AusT., 7, 212.Google Scholar
Buckley, D. A. H., Tuohy, I. R., and Remillard, R. A., 1985, Proc. Astron. Soc. Aust., 6, 147.Google Scholar
Cropper, M., 1986, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 222 225.Google Scholar
Deeming, T. J., 1975, Astrophys, Space Sci., 4, 193.Google Scholar
Faulkner, J., 1971, Astrophys. J., 170, L99.Google Scholar
Hassall, B. J. M., Pringle, J. E., Ward, M. J., Whelan, J. A. J., Mayo, S. K., Echevarria, J., Jones, D. H. P., Wallis, R. E., Allen, D. A., and Hyland, A. R., 1981, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 197, 275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hameury, J.-M., King, A. R., and Lasota, J.-P., 1986, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 218, 347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hameury, J.-M., King, A. R., Lasota, J.-P., and Ritter, H., 1987, Astrophys. J., 316, 275.Google Scholar
Johnson, H. L., 1966, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys., 4, 193.Google Scholar
King, A. R., Frank, J., and Ritter, H., 1985, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 213, 181.Google Scholar
Lamb, D. Q., and Patterson, J., 1983, in Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, ed. Livio, M. and G. Shaviv, (Dordrecht: Reidel), p. 229.Google Scholar
Liebert, J., and Stockman, H. S., 1985, in Cataclysmic Variables and Low-Mass X-ray Binaries, ed. Lamb, D. Q. and Patterson, J. (Dordrecht: Reidel), p. 151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nauenberg, M., 1972, Astrophys. J., 175, 417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, J., and Price, C.M., 1981, Astrophys. J. Lett., 243, L83.Google Scholar
Penning, W. R., 1985, Astrophys. J., 289, 300.Google Scholar
Schmidt, G. D., and Liebert, J., 1987, Steward Observatory Preprint No. 675.Google Scholar
Tuohy, I. R., Buckley, D. A. H., Remillard, R. A., Bradt, H. V., and Schwartz, D. A., 1986, Astrophys. J., 311, 275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verbunt, F., and Zwaan, C., 1981, Astron. Astrophys., 100, L7.Google Scholar
Warner, B., 1983, in Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, ed.Livio, M. and Shaviv, G. (Dordrecht: Reidel), p. 269.Google Scholar
Warner, B. 1985, in Cataclysmic Variables and Low-Mass X-ray Binaries, ed. Lamb, D. Q. and Patternson, J. (Dordrecht: Reidel), p. 155.Google Scholar
Warner, B., 1986, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 219, 347.Google Scholar
West, S.C., Berriman, G., and Schmidt, G. D., 1987, Steward Observatory Preprint No. 732., submitted to Ap. J. Letters.Google Scholar