Measuring the precise photometric period of the intermediate polar 1RXS J230645.0+550816 (1SWXRT J230642.7+550817) based on extensive photometry

Abstract

Recently, Halpern et al. discovered an oscillation with a period of 464 s in the cataclysmic variable 1RXS J230645.0+550816. I conducted extensive photometric observations of this object to clarify the coherence of this oscillation and to measure the oscillation period with high precision. Observations were obtained over 22 nights in 2018 and 2019. The total duration of observations was 110 h. The oscillation was revealed in each long night of observations and was coherent throughout all my observations covering 15 months. Due to the large coverage of observations, I determined the oscillation period with high precision, which was 464.45600 ± 0.00010 s. The oscillation semi-amplitude was large and showed changes from 41.8 ± 1.5 mmag in 2018 to 48.6 ± 1.8 mmag in 2019. The oscillation pulse profile was symmetrical with a noticeably wider minimum compared to the maximum and showed no noticeable changes during 2018 and 2019. The high precision of the oscillation period allowed me to derive an oscillation ephemeris with a long validity of 70 years. This ephemeris can be used for future studies of oscillation period changes. Although short-period X-ray oscillations have not yet been detected in 1RXS J230645.0+550816, the intermediate polar nature of this object is very probable due to the high degree of coherence of the 464-s oscillation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.