The changing accretion states of the intermediate polar MU Camelopardalis

Abstract

We study the timing and spectral properties of the intermediate polar MU Camelopardalis (1RXS J062518.2+733433) to determine the accretion modes and the accretion geometry from multi-wavelength, multi-epoch observational data. Light curves in different observed energy ranges (optical, UV, X-ray) are extracted. The timescales of variability in these light curves are determined using Analysis of Variance. Phase-resolved X-ray spectra are created with respect to the most prominent detected periodicities and each fitted with an identical model, to quantify the differences in the fitted components. The published tentative value for the spin period is unambiguously identified with the rotation period of the white dwarf. We detect a distinct soft X-ray component that can be reproduced well by a black body. The analysis of data obtained at different epochs demonstrates that the system is changing its accretion geometry from disk-dominated to a combination of disk- plus stream-dominated, accompanied with a significant change in brightness at optical wavelengths.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in Astron. Astrophys., 13 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (10)

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• An extensive photometric study of the recently discovered intermediate polar V515 And (XSS J00564+4548)
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• An extensive photometric study of the recently discovered intermediate polar V647 Aur (1RXS J063631.9+353537)
• Very fast photometric and X-ray observations of the intermediate polar V2069 Cygni (RX J2123.7+4217)
• Detection of X-ray periodicity from a new eclipsing polar candidate XGPS-I J183251-100106
• XMM-Newton Observations of the Peculiar Cataclysmic Variable Lanning 386: X-ray evidence for a Magnetic Primary
• Broad Observational Perspectives Achieved by the Accreting White Dwarf Sciences in the XMM-Newton and Chandra Eras
• Discovery of the magnetic cataclysmic variable XMM J152737.4-205305.9 with a deep eclipse-like feature
• Extensive photometry of the intermediate polar MU Cam: detection of a spin period change