The nature of the cataclysmic variable PT Per

Abstract

We present a study of the cataclysmic variable star PT Per based on archival XMM-Newton X-ray data and new optical spectroscopy from the WHT with ISIS. The X-ray data show deep minima which recur at a period of 82 minutes and a hard, unabsorbed X-ray spectrum. The optical spectra of PT Per show a relatively featureless blue continuum. From an analysis of the X-ray and optical data we conclude that PT Per is likely to be a magnetic cataclysmic variable of the polar class in which the minima correspond to those phase intervals when the accretion column rotates out of the field of view of the observer. We suggest that the optical spectrum, obtained around 4 years after the X-ray coverage, is dominated by the white dwarf in the system, implying that PT Per was in a low accretion state at the time of the observations. An analysis of the likely system parameters for PT Per suggests a distance of $\approx 90$ pc and a very low-mass secondary, consistent with the idea that PT Per is a "period-bounce" binary.

LAST UPDATED VERSION with modified discussion of WD field estimation etc. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (14)

• The XMM-Newton Serendipitous Survey. V. The Second XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue
• The first WASP public data release
• Magnetic White Dwarfs
• The XMM-Newton serendipitous survey. VII. The third XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue
• The Donor Stars of Cataclysmic Variables
• A Catalog and Atlas of Cataclysmic Variables - The Living Edition
• Brown Dwarfs and the Cataclysmic Variable Period Minimum
• Magnetic White Dwarf Stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Infrared Properties of Cataclysmic Variables from 2MASS: Results from the 2nd Incremental Data Release
• Zeeman tomography of magnetic white dwarfs IV. The complex field structure of the polars EF Eri, BL Hyi, and CP Tuc
• High and low states of the system AM Herculis
• The X-ray eclipse of the dwarf nova HT CAS observed by the XMM-Newton satellite: spectral and timing analysis
• XMM-Newton observes flaring in the polar UZ For during a low state
• VV Pup in a low state: secondary-star irradiation or stellar activity?

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Spectroscopic classification of X-ray sources in the Galactic Bulge Survey
• Optical Studies of 8 AM Herculis-Type Cataclysmic Variable Stars