RW Aur A is a classical T Tauri star, believed to have undergone a reconfiguration of its circumstellar environment as a consequence of a recent flyby of its stellar companion, RW Aur B. This interaction stripped away part of the circumstellar disk of RW Aur A, leaving a tidally disrupted "arm" and a short truncated circumstellar disk. We present photometric observations of the RW Aur system from the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope survey showing a long and deep dimming that occurred from 2010 September until 2011 March. The dimming has a depth of ~2mag, a duration of ~180 days, and was confirmed by archival observations from American Association of Variable Star Observers. We suggest that this event is the result of a portion of the tidally disrupted disk occulting RW Aur A, specifically a fragment of the tidally disrupted arm. The calculated transverse linear velocity of the occulter is in excellent agreement with the measured relative radial velocity of the tidally disrupted arm. Using simple kinematic and geometric arguments, we show that the occulter cannot be a feature of the RW Aur A circumstellar disk, and we consider and discount other hypotheses. We also place constraints on the thickness and semimajor axis of the portion of the arm that occulted the star.
We observed a new cataclysmic variable (CV) SDSS J080434.20+510349.2 to study the origin of long-term variability found in its light curve. Multi-longitude, time-resolved, photometric observations were acquired to analyze this uncommon behavior, which has been found in two newly discovered CVs. This study of SDSS J080434.20+510349.2 concerns primarily the understanding of the nature of the observed, double-humped, light curve and its relation to a cyclic brightening that occurs during quiescence. The observations were obtained early in 2007, when the object was at about V~17.1, about 0.4mag brighter than the pre-outburst magnitude. The light curve shows a sinusoidal variability with an amplitude of about 0.07mag and a periodicity of 42.48min, which is half of the orbital period of the system. We observed in addition two "mini-outbursts" of the system of up to 0.6mag, which have a duration of about 4days each. The "mini-outburst" has a symmetric profile and is repeated in approximately every 32days. Subsequent monitoring of the system shows a cyclical behavior of such "mini-outbursts" with a similar recurrence period. The origin of the double-humped light curve and the periodic brightening is discussed in the light of the evolutionary state of SDSS J080434.20+510349.2.
We present differential CCD photometry for the high-amplitude delta Scuti star V567 Ophiuchi obtained in the Johnson V-band. It was observed on 15 nights in two consecutive years in order to resolve the long-standing ambiguity related to its secondary period. A frequency analysis of almost 5000 individual single-filtered measurements resulted in two independent frequencies (f_1_=6.6879c/d and f_2_=11.8266c/d) with a ratio of f_1_/f_2_=0.565. The presented photometric data are differential magnitudes relative to the comparison star C_1_ (GSC 00417-01714) from Powell et al. (1990PASP..102.1131P)
What is the origin of the large-amplitude variability in Wolf-Rayet WN8 stars in general and WR123 in particular? A dedicated spectroscopic campaign targets the ten-hour period previously found in the high-precision photometric data obtained by the MOST satellite. In June-August 2003 we obtained a series of high signal-to-noise, mid-resolution spectra from several sites in the {lambda}{lambda}4000-6940{AA} domain. We also followed the star with occasional broadband (Johnson V) photometry. The acquired spectroscopy allowed a detailed study of spectral variability on timescales from ~5 minutes to months.
WR 29 is a known WN7h+O double-lined binary system with a rather short period (3.164-days). We search for light variations to determine the inclination of the system and thus the absolute masses of both components. We observed photometrically the field of WR 29 between December, 2002 and February, 2006. We find that the V light of WR 29 varies in phase with the spectroscopic period of 3.16412-days, presenting two minima corresponding to the conjunctions of the binary components. Numerical models fitted to the light curve indicate an orbital inclination of about 44{deg}, and masses of 53M_{sun}_ and 42M_{sun}_ for the O- and WN-type components, respectively.
We analyse photometric observations of the young active dwarf EK Dra, spanning altogether 21 years, and including previously unpublished data. The data in Table 2 was observed at the Fairbourn Observatory in southern Arizona using Amadeus, a 0.75m automatic photoelectric telescope (APT) of the University of Vienna. Amadeus is optimised for red wavelengths with an EMI-9828 tube and Johnson-Cousins V(RI)_C_ filters. Differential V magnitudes are variable (EK Dra) - comparison (HD 129390) and check (HD 129798) - comparison (HD 129390). HD 129390 Vmag=7.567
NGC 188 is a good laboratory for studying the formation and evolution of W UMa type contact binaries due to its rich populations of them. We present a detailed photometric study of three short-period close binaries, EP Cep, ES Cep, and V369 Cep, in the old open cluster NGC 188 based on our two-set photometric observations. We discovered that both EP Cep and ES Cep are shallow-contact binaries with continuously decreasing periods. The difference is in their mass ratios. EP Cep has an extremely low-mass ratio, q=0.15, while ES Cep has a relatively high-mass ratio, q=0.69, indicating that they lie in different evolutionary stages. ES Cep is likely a newly formed contact binary via a Case A mass transfer, while EP Cep is an evolved system and may be on the oscillations caused by the combined effect of the thermal relaxation oscillation and the variable angular momentum loss. For another system, V369 Cep, we found that it is a primary-filling near-contact binary. Both the semidetached configuration and the continuous decrease in the orbital period indicate that it is undergoing a mass transfer from the primary component to the secondary one. This conclusion is in agreement with the excess luminosity seen in the light curves on the ingress of the secondary minimum produced by the impact of the mass transfer. All of the results suggest that V369 Cep is evolving into contact, and a shallow-contact high-mass ratio system similar to ES Cep will be formed. Then, it will evolve into a low-mass ratio contact binary just like EP Cep, and finally merge into a rapidly rotating single star.
The young (~16 Myr) pre-main-sequence star in Sco-Cen 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6, hereafter referred to as J1407, underwent a deep eclipse in 2007 April, bracketed by several shallower eclipses in the surrounding 54d. This has been interpreted as the first detection of an eclipsing ring system circling a substellar object (dubbed J1407b). We report on a search for this companion with Sparse Aperture Mask imaging and direct imaging with both the UT4 VLT and Keck telescopes. Radial velocity measurements of J1407 provide additional constraints on J1407b and on short period companions to the central star. Follow-up photometric monitoring using the Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes (PROMPT)-4 and ROAD observatories during 2012-2014 has not yielded any additional eclipses. Large regions of mass-period space are ruled out for the companion. For circular orbits the companion period is constrained to the range 3.5-13.8 yr (a~2.2-5.6 au), and stellar masses (>80 M_Jup_) are ruled out at 3{sigma} significance over these periods. The complex ring system appears to occupy more than 0.15 of its Hill radius, much larger than its Roche radius and suggesting a ring structure in transition. Further, we demonstrate that the radial velocity of J1407 is consistent with membership in the Upper Cen-Lup subgroup of the Sco-Cen association, and constraints on the rotation period and projected rotational velocity of J1407 are consistent with a stellar inclination of i_*_~68{deg}+/-10{deg}.
This work presents a high-precision variability survey in the field of the old, super metal-rich open cluster NGC 6791. The data sample consists of more than 75,000 high-precision CCD time series measurements in the V band obtained mainly at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, with additional data from S. Pedro Martir and Loiano observatories, over a time span of ten nights. The field covers an area of 42x28arcmin^2^. We have discovered 260 new variables and re-determined periods and amplitudes of 70 known variable stars. By means of a photometric evaluation of the membership in NGC 6791, and a preliminary membership based on the proper motions, we give a full description of the variable content of the cluster and surrounding field in the range 16<V<23.5. Accurate periods can be given for the variables with P<4.0d, while for ones with longer periods the limited time-baseline hampered precise determinations. We categorized the entire sample as follows: 6 pulsating, 3 irregular, 3 cataclysmic, 89 rotational variables and 61 eclipsing systems; moreover, we detected 168 candidate variables for which we cannot give a variability class since their periods are much longer than our time baseline. On the basis of photometric considerations, and of the positions of the stars with respect to the center of the cluster, we inferred that 11 new variable stars are likely members of the cluster, for 22 stars the membership is doubtful and 137 are likely non-members. We also detected an outburst of about 3 mag in the light curve of a very faint blue star belonging to the cluster and we suggest that this star could be a new U Gem (dwarf nova) cataclysmic variable.
Improved distance moduli for the two globular clusters NGC 5634 and NGC 6229 are derived from a photometric investigation of their cluster-type variables. The resulting values are m-M=16.91+/-0.04 for NGC 5634 and m-M=17.53+/-0.02 for NGC 6229. Both globular clusters are of less than average luminosity.
