ULTRACAM photometry of the eclipsing cataclysmic variable OU Vir

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 347; no. 4; pp. 1173 - 1179
• Main Authors: Feline, W. J., Dhillon, V. S., Marsh, T. R., Stevenson, M. J., Watson, C. A., Brinkworth, C. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.02.2004; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Astronomy; binaries: close; binaries: eclipsing; Binary and multiple stars; Cataclysmic binaries (novae, dwarf novae, recurrent novae, and nova-like objects). Symbiotic stars; cataclysmic variables; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; novae; novae, cataclysmic variables; Stars; stars: dwarf novae; stars: individual: OU Vir; binaries: close; binaries: eclipsing; stars: dwarf novae; stars: individual: OU Vir; novae, cataclysmic variables; Eclipsing binary stars; Mass radius relation; White dwarf stars; Three color photometry; Light curves; Cataclysmic binary stars; Dwarf novae; stars: individuel: OU Vir; Distances; Mass; Mass ratio; Close binary stars; Models
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07281.x

We present high-speed, three-colour photometry of the faint eclipsing cataclysmic variable OU Vir. For the first time in OU Vir, separate eclipses of the white dwarf and the bright spot have been observed. We use timings of these eclipses to derive a purely photometric model of the system, obtaining a mass ratio of q = 0.175 ± 0.025, an inclination of i = 79°.2 ± 0°.7 and a disc radius of Rd/a = 0.2315 ± 0.0150. We separate the white dwarf eclipse from the light curve and, by fitting a blackbody spectrum to its flux in each passband, obtain a white dwarf temperature of T = 13 900 ± 600 K and a distance of D = 51 ± 17 pc. Assuming that the primary obeys the Nauenberg mass–radius relation for white dwarfs and allowing for temperature effects, we also find a primary mass Mw/M⊙ = 0.89 ± 0.20, a primary radius Rw/R⊙ = 0.0097 ± 0.0031 and an orbital separation a/R⊙ = 0.74 ± 0.05.