Emission line tomography of the short period cataclysmic variables CC Scl and V2051 Oph

Abstract

We present time-series spectroscopy of two short period cataclysmic variables, CC Scl and V2051 Oph, to test the efficiency of Doppler tomography-based methods in constraining orbital parameters of evolved cataclysmic variables. We find that the Ca~II triplet lines offer superior diagnostics, revealing emission components from the mass donors and sharp images of the accretion discs. Furthermore, we use Monte-Carlo methods to estimate the uncertainties from ensembles of Doppler maps. We compare our new methods against traditional radial velocity methods and show that they offer a valid route towards system parameter determination. Our analysis of CC Scl suggests a low mass ratio of $q=0.08\pm 0.03$ with a primary velocity of $K_1=37\pm 14$ km/s. This mass ratio is in between the pre- and post-period minimum status, however our $K_1$ solution favours a post-period minimum system. Our derived parameters for V2051 Oph ($q=0.16\pm 0.03$, $K_1=97\pm 10$ km/s) are in agreement with the eclipse solution ($q=0.19\pm 0.03$), offering a direct validation of our methods.

13 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (3)

• Detection of the Irradiated Donor in the LMXBs 4U 1636-536 (=V801 Ara) and 4U 1735-444 (=V926 Sco)
• Dynamical constraints on the component masses of the cataclysmic variable WZ Sge
• A study of the evolution of the accretion disk of V2051 Oph through two outburst cycles

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Hunting For Eclipses: High Speed Observations of Cataclysmic Variables
• System mass constraints for the accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1814-338 using Bowen fluorescence
• Interpreting the X-ray state transitions of Cygnus X-1
• Spiral structures and temperature distribution in the quiescent accretion disc of the cataclysmic binary V2051 Ophiuchi
• The period-gap cataclysmic variable CzeV404 Her: A link between SW Sex and SU UMa systems
• A systematic study of spiral density waves in the accretion discs of Cataclysmic Variables