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We analyze 15 yr of eclipse timings of the polar V808 Aur. The rapid ingress/egress of the white dwarf and bright accretion region provide timings as precise as a few tenths of a second for rapid cadence photometric data. We find that between 2015 and 2018, the eclipse timings deviated from a linear ephemeris by more than 30 s. The rapid timing change is consistent with the periastron passage of a planet in an eccentric orbit about the polar. The best-fit orbital period is 11 ± 1 yr and we estimate a projected mass of M sin (i) = 6.8 ± 0.7 Jupiter masses. We also show that the eclipse timings are correlated with the brightness of the polar with a slope of 1.1 s mag−1. This is likely due to the change in the geometry of the accretion curtains as a function of the mass transfer rate in the polar. While an eccentric planet offers an excellent explanation to the available eclipse data for V808 Aur, proposed planetary systems in other eclipsing polars have often struggled to accurately predict future eclipse timings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intermediate polar FO Aquarii (FO Aqr) experienced its first reported low-accretion states in 2016, 2017, and 2018, and, using newly available photographic plates, we identify prediscovery low states in 1965, 1966, and 1974. The primary focus of our analysis, however, is an extensive set of time-series photometry obtained between 2002 and 2018, with particularly intensive coverage of the 2016–2018 low states. After computing an updated spin ephemeris for the white dwarf (WD), we show that its spin period began to increase in 2014 after having spent 27 yr decreasing; no other intermediate polar has experienced a sign change of its period derivative, but FO Aqr has now done so twice. Our central finding is that the recent low states all occurred shortly after the WD began to spin down, even though no low states were reported in the preceding quarter-century, when it was spinning up. Additionally, the system's mode of accretion is extremely sensitive to the mass-transfer rate, with accretion being almost exclusively disk-fed when FO Aqr is brighter than V ∼ 14 and substantially stream-fed when it is not. Even in the low states, a grazing eclipse remains detectable, confirming the presence of a disklike structure (but not necessarily a Keplerian accretion disk). We relate these various observations to theoretical predictions that during the low state, the system's accretion disk dissipates into a non-Keplerian ring of diamagnetic blobs. Finally, a new XMM-Newton observation from a high state in 2017 reveals an anomalously soft X-ray spectrum and diminished X-ray luminosity compared to pre-2016 observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type Ia supernovae are thought to be the result of a thermonuclear runaway in carbon/oxygen white dwarfs, but it is uncertain whether the explosion is triggered by accretion from a non-degenerate companion star or by a merger with another white dwarf. Observations of a supernova immediately following the explosion provide unique information on the distribution of ejected material and the progenitor system. Models predict that the interaction of supernova ejecta with a companion star or circumstellar debris lead to a sudden brightening lasting from hours to days. Here we present data for three supernovae that are likely to be type Ia observed during the Kepler mission with a time resolution of 30 minutes. We find no signatures of the supernova ejecta interacting with nearby companions. The lack of observable interaction signatures is consistent with the idea that these three supernovae resulted from the merger of binary white dwarfs or other compact stars such as helium stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the dramatic photometric variability modulated at the white dwarf (WD) spin period due to the cycloton emission. The study uses a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope to investigate the possible eclipsing polar in the optical transient of white dwarf stars. The research also outlines the detection of polarized cyclotron emission on the accretion region of white dwarf star.

We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based optical and near-infrared observations of SN 2005hk and SN 2008A, typical members of the Type Iax class of supernovae (SNe). Here we focus on late-time observations, where these objects deviate most dramatically from all other SN types. Instead of the dominant nebular emission lines that are observed in other SNe at late phases, spectra of SNe 2005hk and 2008A show lines of Fe II, Ca II, and Fe I more than a year past maximum light, along with narrow [Fe II] and [Ca II] emission. We use spectral features to constrain the temperature and density of the ejecta, and find high densities at late times, with ne ≳ 109 cm–3. Such high densities should yield enhanced cooling of the ejecta, making these objects good candidates to observe the expected “infrared catastrophe,” a generic feature of SN Ia models. However, our HST photometry of SN 2008A does not match the predictions of an infrared catastrophe. Moreover, our HST observations rule out a “complete deflagration” that fully disrupts the white dwarf for these peculiar SNe, showing no evidence for unburned material at late times. Deflagration explosion models that leave behind a bound remnant can match some of the observed properties of SNe Iax, but no published model is consistent with all of our observations of SNe 2005hk and 2008A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a time-series analysis of the asynchronous polar CD Ind, using fast cadence TESS photometry. A similar analysis is performed using ground based photometry of BY Cam. These asynchronous polars show remarkably similar light curves and enigmatic timing characteristics. A pair of competing models for the assignment of the white dwarf spin period have been presented for both binaries. TESS allows for the breaking of this degeneracy by providing continuous coverage over several beat-cycles. The CD Ind light curve displays a super-orbital period of 7.2 days due to beat-phased modulation of the accretion rate onto a permanently visible spot. This (main) accretion region is active for 3/4 of the beat-cycle. The dominant photometric signal is at 109.654(4) min and is identified as a side-band related to the white dwarf spin and the binary orbit, analogous to that found in BY Cam. We obtain the white dwarf spin period of CD Ind as 110.820(5) min and an orbital period of 111.952(8) min. The TESS light curve supports a pole-switching scenario for CD Ind, with a total of 4 alternating, and oppositely positioned accretion regions. This inclination of CD Ind is estimated as i = 65 ° ± 10 °. One accretion region remains in view of the observer at all times. In addition, two pulsed accretion spots each accrete for just less than 1/2 of the beat-cycle. These alternating spots are orthogonal to the main accretion region (which is always in view), and are found to be roughly 180 ° apart in longitude. Finally, since the mean flux drops by a factor of 2 for about 1/4 of the beat-cycle and the dominant accretion region turns off during this time, we hypothesize the existence of a fourth (permanently hidden) accretion region opposite to the one permanently in view. Photometric models for the 2- and 4-pole accretion configurations are developed and only the 4-pole model is consistent with the observed periodogram for CD Ind. We conclude that complex magnetic fields affect accretion flow onto these white dwarf stars. In particular, the magnetic field of the white dwarf in both of these binaries is inconsistent with either a centered or an offset dipole configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]