Discovery of a Faint Short-Period Cataclysmic Variable in the Direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud: CAL 86 (RX J0546.3-6836)
Abstract
A weak X-ray source (CAL 86=RX J0546.3-6836) in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud has been identified with a faint, Galactic cataclysmic variable (CV). Photometry and spectroscopy obtained at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory reveal an orbital period of ~0.0660 days. The spectrum has double-peaked emission lines of H, He I, Fe II, and Ca II, typical of an accretion disk in a CV. Long-term photometry from the MACHO Project shows irregularly spaced outbursts with amplitudes of ~5 mag. Using several different methods we estimate the distance of CAL 86 is between 440 and 650 pc, placing the system ~300 pc below the Galactic plane. This paper utilizes public domain data obtained by the MACHO Project, jointly funded by the Department of Energy through the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, under contract W-7405-Eng-48 by the National Science Foundation through the Center for Particle Astrophysics of the University of California under cooperative agreement AST-8809616, and by the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatory, part of the Australian National University.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 2002
- DOI:
- 10.1086/340698
- Bibcode:
- 2002AJ....123.3210S
- Keywords:
-
- Stars: Binaries: Close;
- Stars: Individual: Alphanumeric: CAL 86;
- Stars: Individual: Alphanumeric: RX J0546.3-6836;
- X-Rays