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Document Type
Open Access
Faculty Sponsor
Francis Wilkin
Department
Physics and Astronomy
Description
A cataclysmic variable star system consists of two stars that are close enough that material can be transferred from one to the other through an accretion stream onto a circumstellar accretion disk. We observe variation in the light due to rotation of the accretion hotspots, variations of the material flow rate, and the change of view angle due to orbital motion of the binary. As part of the Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA), an amateur-professional collaboration, we chose high priority targets and observed them using the 0.6m telescope of El Sauce Observatory in Chile. We observed HP Lib on three nights in June and July and noted an overall brightening. We obtained photometry on NY Lup for four nights during a single week in July and detected a local minimum. Our results will be combined with those of other CBA observers and will be analyzed for variation on multiple timescales allowing a detailed interpretation in terms of physical changes of the systems.
Recommended Citation
Kakogiannis, Christos, "Optical Investigations of the Cataclysmic Variable Stars HP Lib and NY Lup" (2020). 2020 Summer Research Poster Session. 10.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/srps_2020/10