Bibcode
DOI
Shahbaz, T.; Watson, C. A.; Zurita, C.; Villaver, E.; Hernandez-Peralta, H.
Bibliographical reference
The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Volume 120, Issue 870, pp. 848-851.
Advertised on:
8
2008
Citations
34
Refereed citations
32
Description
We present a detailed optical study of the ultracompact X-ray binary 4U
0614+091. We have used 63 hr of time-resolved optical photometry taken
with three different telescopes (IAC80, NOT, and SPM) to search for
optical modulations. The power spectra of each data set reveals
sinusoidal modulations with different periods, which are not always
present. The strongest modulation has a period of 51.3 minutes, a
semiamplitude of 4.6 mmag, and is present in the IAC80 data. The SPM and
NOT data show periods of 42 minutes and 64 minutes, respectively, but
with much weaker amplitudes, 2.6 mmag and 1.3 mmag, respectively. These
modulations arise from either X-ray irradiation of the inner face of the
secondary star and/or a superhump modulation from the accretion disk, or
quasi-periodic modulations in the accretion disk. It is unclear whether
these periods/quasi-periodic modulations are related to the orbital
period; however, the strongest period of 51.3 minutes is close to
earlier tentative orbital periods. Further observations taken over a
long baseline are encouraged.
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