A Search for Rapid Photometric Variability in Symbiotic Binaries

Abstract

We report on our survey for rapid (time scale of minutes) photometric variability in symbiotic binaries. These binaries are becoming an increasingly important place to study accretion onto white dwarfs since they are candidate Type Ia supernovae progenitors. Unlike in most cataclysmic variables, the white dwarfs in symbiotics typically accrete from a wind, at rates greater than or equal to 10^{-9} solar masses per year. In order to elucidate the differences between symbiotics and other white dwarf accretors, as well as search for magnetism in symbiotic white dwarfs, we have studied 35 primarily northern symbiotic binaries via differential optical photometry. Our study is the most comprehensive to date of rapid variability in symbiotic binaries. We have found one magnetic accretor, Z And, previously reported by Sokoloski & Bildsten (1999). In four systems (EG And, BX Mon, CM Aql, and BF Cyg), some evidence for flickering at a low level (roughly 10 mmag) is seen for the first time. These detections are, however, marginal. For 25 systems, we place tight upper limits (order of mmag) on both aperiodic and periodic variability, highlighting a major difference between symbiotics and cataclysmic variables. The remaining five of the objects included in our sample (the 2 recurrent novae RS Oph and T CrB, plus CH Cyg, o Ceti, and MWC 560) had previous detections of large-amplitude optical flickering, and we present our extensive observations of these systems in a separate paper. We discuss the impact of our results on the ``standard'' picture of wind-fed accretion, and speculate on the possibility that in most symbiotics, light from quasi-steady nuclear burning on the surface of the white dwarf hides the fluctuating emission from accretion.

24 pages, 17 figures. Submitted to MNRAS (12/21/00), and revised in response to referee comments (3/30/01)

References in corpus (3)

• A catalogue of symbiotic stars
• Discovery of a Magnetic White Dwarf in the Symbiotic Binary Z Andromedae
• Toward the Evidence of the Accretion Disk Emission in the Symbiotic Star RR Tel

Cited by in corpus (59)

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• A "Combination Nova" Outburst in Z Andromedae: Nuclear Shell Burning Triggered by a Disk Instability
• Precision photometric monitoring of very low mass Sigma Orionis cluster members: variability and rotation at a few Myr
• Discovery of the Eclipsing Detached Double White Dwarf Binary NLTT 11748
• Magnetic Field Evolution in Accreting White Dwarfs
• The census of cataclysmic variables in the ROSAT Bright Survey
• The energy balance in polars revisited
• Spreading of Accreted Material on White Dwarfs
• Swift Observations of Hard X-ray Emitting White Dwarfs in Symbiotic Stars
• The Nature of the Hard-X-Ray Emitting Symbiotic Star RT Cru
• Eclipse mapping of the flickering sources in the dwarf nova V2051 Ophiuchi
• A radio jet in the prototypical symbiotic star Z And?
• Resumption of mass accretion in RS Oph
• Born Again Protoplanetary Disk Around Mira B
• CH Cygni I: Observational Evidence for a Disk-Jet Connection
• X-ray and UV emission from the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi in quiescence: Signatures of accretion and shocked gas
• A comparative study of the strength of flickering in cataclysmic variables
• Active phases and flickering of a symbiotic recurrent nova T CrB
• Correlated radial velocity and X-ray variations in HD 154791/4U 1700+24
• Fe KαLine in Hard X-ray Emitting Symbiotic Stars
• Infrared Spectroscopy of Symbiotic Stars. XII. The Neutron Star SyXB System 4U 1700+24 = V934 Herculis
• Regulation of accretion by its outflow in a symbiotic star: the 2016 outflow fast state of MWC 560
• The GALAH Survey and Symbiotic Stars. I. Discovery and follow-up of 33 candidate accreting-only systems
• Raman Scattered O VI $\lambda$ 6825 and the Accretion Disk Emission Model in the Symbiotic Stars V1016 Cygni and HM Sagittae
• CH Cygni II: Optical Flickering from an Unstable Disk
• Discovery of the Partially Eclipsing White Dwarf Binary SDSS J143547.87+373338.5
• A Search for Pulsations in Helium White Dwarfs
• Symbiotic stars in the era of modern ground- and space-based surveys
• Multi-periodic variations in the last 104 years light curve of the symbiotic star BF Cyg
• Flickering variability of T Coronae Borealis
• Optical Flickering of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi: amplitude - flux relation
• The recurrent nova RS Oph - simultaneous B and V band observations of the flickering variability
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• Spectroscopic view on the outburst activity of the symbiotic binary AG Draconis
• A pre-outburst signal in the long term optical lightcurve of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi
• UBVRI observations of the flickering of RS Ophiuchi at Quiescence
• Discovery of fast, large-amplitude optical variability of V648 Car (=SS73-17)
• Discovery of radio emission from the symbiotic X-ray binary system GX 1+4
• Long-term X-ray Variability of the Symbiotic System RT Cru based on Chandra Spectroscopy
• Taking a break: paused accretion in the symbiotic binary RT Cru
• T CrB: overview of the accretion history, Roche-lobe filling, orbital solution, and radiative modeling
• Discovery of optical flickering from the symbiotic star EF Aquilae
• Stratified Global MHD Models of Accretion Disks in Semi-Detached Binaries
• Bipolar jets growth and decline in Hen 3-1341: a direct link to fast wind and outburst evolution
• Rapid H-alpha variability in T Coronae Borealis
• Pulsations of the Low Mass ZZ Ceti Star HS 1824+6000
• The symbiotic binary ZZ CMi: intranight variability and suggested outbursting nature
• Raman Scattered Ne VII$\lambda$973 at 4881 Å in the Symbiotic Star V1016 Cygni
• A Monte Carlo Study of Flux Ratios of Raman Scattered O~VI Features at 6825 Å and 7082 Å in Symbiotic Stars
• Flickering returns as RS Oph reestablishes quiescent conditions following its 2021 nova outburst
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• Four New Delta Scuti Pulsators from a Variability Survey of 131 Stars
• Optical spectroscopy and X-ray observations of the D-type symbiotic star EF Aql
• Difference between the optical flickering colours of cataclysmic variables and symbiotic recurrent novae
• Flickers, Bursts, and Dips: Detecting Rapid Variability with the g(2) Autocorrelation Function
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