Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Exploring the tilted accretion disc of AQ Men with TESS

Iłkiewicz, Krystian; Scaringi, Simone; Court, James MC; Maccarone, Thomas J; Altamirano, Diego; Bradshaw, Corey W; Degenaar, Nathalie; Fratta, Matteo; Littlefield, Colin; Shahbaz, Tariq; Wijnands, Rudy

Exploring the tilted accretion disc of AQ Men with TESS Thumbnail


Authors

Krystian Iłkiewicz

James MC Court

Thomas J Maccarone

Diego Altamirano

Corey W Bradshaw

Nathalie Degenaar

Matteo Fratta

Colin Littlefield

Tariq Shahbaz

Rudy Wijnands



Abstract

AQ Men is a nova-like variable that is presumed to have a tilted, precessing accretion disc. Grazing eclipses in this system have been speculated to be useful in exploring the geometry of its accretion disc. In this work, we analysed Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observations of AQ Men, which provide the best light curve of this object thus far. We show that the depths of the eclipses are changing with the orientation of the accretion disc, which means that they can serve as a direct test of the tilted accretion disc models. The precession period of the accretion disc is increasing during the TESS observations. However, it is still shorter than the period determined in the previous studies. The amplitude of the variability related to the precession of the accretion disc varies, and so does the shape of this variability. Moreover, we have detected a positive superhump that was previously unseen in AQ Men. Interestingly, the positive superhump has a strongly non-sinusoidal shape, which is not expected for a nova-like variable.

Citation

Iłkiewicz, K., Scaringi, S., Court, J. M., Maccarone, T. J., Altamirano, D., Bradshaw, C. W., …Wijnands, R. (2021). Exploring the tilted accretion disc of AQ Men with TESS. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 503(3), 4050-4060. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab664

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 24, 2021
Online Publication Date Mar 8, 2021
Publication Date 2021-05
Deposit Date May 7, 2021
Publicly Available Date Aug 23, 2021
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 503
Issue 3
Pages 4050-4060
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab664

Files

Published Journal Article (1.3 Mb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. ©: 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





You might also like



Downloadable Citations