RAT J1953+1859: a dwarf nova discovered through high amplitude QPOs in quiescence

Abstract

We report the discovery of an accreting binary, RAT J1953+1859, made during the RApid Temporal Survey (RATS) on the Isaac Newton Telescope. It showed high amplitude (0.3 mag) quasi-periodic oscillations on a timescale of ~20 mins. Further observations made using the Nordic Optical Telescope showed it to be ~4 mag brighter than in the discovery images. These photometric observations, together with radial velocity data taken using the William Herschel Telescope, point to an orbital period of ~90 mins. These data suggest that RAT J1953+1859 is a dwarf novae of the SU UMa type. What makes RAT J1953+1859 unusual is that it is the first such system to be discovered as a result of high amplitude QPOs during quiescence. This suggests that high-cadence wide-field surveys could be another means to discover cataclysmic variables as a result of their short period variability.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (6)

• Rapid Oscillations in Cataclysmic Variables
• A Survey for Planetary Transits in the Field of NGC 7789
• Dwarf nova oscillations and quasi-periodic oscillations in cataclysmic variables -- V. Results from an extensive survey
• RApid Temporal Survey - RATS I: Overview and first results
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Cited by in corpus (4)

• The OmegaWhite Survey for Short-Period Variable Stars I: Overview and First Results
• Serendipitous Kepler observations of a background dwarf nova of SU UMa type
• Stellar variability on time-scales of minutes: results from the first 5 years of the Rapid Temporal Survey (RATS)
• QPOs in compact binaries from small scale eruptions in an inner magnetized disk