TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the tilted accretion disc of AQ Men with TESS
AU - Iłkiewicz, Krystian
AU - Scaringi, Simone
AU - Court, James M.C.
AU - Maccarone, Thomas J.
AU - Altamirano, Diego
AU - Bradshaw, Corey W.
AU - Degenaar, Nathalie
AU - Fratta, Matteo
AU - Littlefield, Colin
AU - Shahbaz, Tariq
AU - Wijnands, Rudy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society
PY - 2021/5/1
Y1 - 2021/5/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Accretion
KW - Accretion discs
KW - Cataclysmic variables
KW - Novae
KW - Stars: individual: AQ Men
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108397203&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stab664
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stab664
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85108397203
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 503
SP - 4050
EP - 4060
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 3
ER -