An extensive photometric study of the recently discovered intermediate polar V515 And (XSS J00564+4548)

Abstract

We report the results of photometry of the intermediate polar V515 And. Observations were obtained over 33 nights in 2008 and 2009. The total duration of the observations was 233h. We clearly detected two oscillations with periods of 465.48493 ± 0.00007 and 488.61822 ± 0.00009s, which may be the white dwarf spin period and the orbital sideband. The semi-amplitudes of the oscillations are accordingly 25 and 20mmag. The oscillation with a period of 465.48493s has a stable smooth asymmetric pulse profile, whereas the pulse profile of the oscillation with a period of 488.61822s reveals significant changes from a quasi-sinusoidal shape to a shape somewhat resembling a light curve of an eclipsing binary. Two detected oscillations imply an orbital period of 2.73h. V515 And is one of the most rapidly spinning intermediate polars with orbital periods less than 3h and may not be in spin equilibrium. This could be proved by future observations. For this purpose, we obtained oscillation ephemerides with a formal shelf life of about 100yr (a 1σ confidence level). © 2012 The Author Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS.