Optical pulsations in the cataclysmic binary 3A 0729+103.
Abstract
Regular optical pulsations with an average semiamplitude of about 0.15 mag in B-band and a period that agrees with that reported by McHardy et al. (1982) are detected in the light curve of the cataclysmic variable 3A 0729 + 103 by fast photometric observations. It is suggested that this star is similar in its characteristics to the H 2252 - 035 class of cataclysmic binaries, which contains rapidly rotating white dwarfs. If the optical pulse period is interpreted as the beat period, an X-ray pulse period of about 847 sec is predicted for prograde rotation and of 991 sec for retrograde rotation of the white dwarf, by comparison with the 900-1000 sec period reported. Attention is also given to an alternative interpretation of the observed optical pulse as due to directly beamed radiation from the vicinity of the white dwarf's pole.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- February 1984
- Bibcode:
- 1984A&A...131..192A
- Keywords:
-
- Binary Stars;
- Pulsars;
- Stellar Oscillations;
- X Ray Sources;
- Astronomical Photometry;
- Light Curve;
- Stellar Rotation;
- White Dwarf Stars;
- Astrophysics