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[vsnet-campaign-nova 884] V1039 Cen - an intermediate polar candidate - ?
Dear vsneters,
Preliminary analysis of 7 nights (~14 hours) of unfiltered data on Nova
V1039 Cen 2001, obtained in February-March by Marc Bos, New Zealand;
Berto Monard, South Africa and Peter Nelson, Australia suggests that
the nova may be an intermediate polar as predicted. The combined power
spectrum shows several peaks of which the strongests are f1~13.0 c/d
(~1.8 h), presumably the orbital period and f2~70 c/d (~20 m), probably
the spin period of the white dwarf. Other peaks that are probably
various combinations of the above two seem to be present as well. We
may identify 2f1, 3f1, 2f2, f2-f1, f2-2f1, 2f2-f1, 2f1+2f2, 2f2+3f1 etc.
The errors are, however, still large and the aliasing problem is very
severe. Therefore a confirmation for this finding is urgently required.
If you have a small-size telescope at the south hemisphere with a CCD
and are able to carry out continuous photometry - we need your help!
The nova is V~13.5 at the moment.
If confirmed, this result is very significant as it supports my prediction
that the transition phase in classical novae appears only in intermediate
polars. This may thus be the third case that confirms this model, and it
would mean that the result is ~98% significant.
I have also sent a proposal to observe this object with Chandra. X-Ray
observations may help to pin down the intermediate polar model of
V1039 Cen and solve the one-century problem of the transition phase in
novae.
Regards,
Alon
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Dr. Alon Retter Tel. (work) +61-2-9351-4058
School of Physics Fax (work) +61-2-9351-7726
University of Sydney -------------------------------------------
Sydney, 2006 'As a scientist I don't believe myself, so
Australia why should I believe you?' (A.R. 1965-2085)
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