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Polars are highly magnetic cataclysmic variables which have been long observed to have both high and low brightness states. The duration of these states has been previously seen to vary from a number of days up to years. Despite this, these states and their physical origin have not been explained in a consistent manner. We present observations of the shortest duration states of a number of Polars observed by ZTF and TESS. This has allowed us to determine that short-duration states are a relatively common feature across the population of Polars. Furthermore, we have been able to generalize the model of star-spot migration to explain both short-lived high and low states in Polars by incorporating the interaction between the magnetic field of the white dwarf and that of the star spots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultracompact binaries with orbital periods less than a few hours will dominate the gravitational wave signal in the mHz regime. Until recently, 10 systems were expected to have a predicted gravitational wave signal strong enough to be detectable by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), the so-called 'verification binaries'. System parameters, including distances, are needed to provide an accurate prediction of the expected gravitational wave strength to be measured by LISA. Using parallaxes from Gaia Data Release 2 we calculate signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for ≈50 verification binary candidates. We find that 11 binaries reach an SNR ≥ 20, two further binaries reaching an SNR≥ 5, and three more systems are expected to have a SNR≈ 5 after 4 yr integration with LISA. For these 16 systems, we present predictions of the gravitational wave amplitude ($$\mathcal {A}$$) and parameter uncertainties from Fisher information matrix on the amplitude ($$\mathcal {A}$$) and inclination (ι). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the discovery and follow-up observations of the second known variable warm DQ white dwarf OWJ175358.85–310728.9 (OWJ1753–3107). OWJ1753–3107 is the brightest of any of the currently known warm or hot DQ and was discovered in the OmegaWhite Survey as exhibiting optical variations on a period of 35.5452 (2) min, with no evidence for other periods in its light curves. This period has remained constant over the last 2 yr and a single-period sinusoidal model provides a good fit for all follow-up light curves. The spectrum consists of a very blue continuum with strong absorption lines of neutral and ionized carbon, a broad He ı λ4471 line and possibly weaker hydrogen lines. The C ı lines are Zeeman split, and indicate the presence of a strong magnetic field. Using spectral Paschen–Back model descriptions, we determine that OWJ1753–3107 exhibits the following physical parameters: Teff = 15 430 K, log (g) = 9.0, log (N(C)/N(He)) = -1.2 and the mean magnetic field strength is Bz = 2.1 MG. This relatively low temperature and carbon abundance (compared to the expected properties of hot DQs) is similar to that seen in the other warm DQ SDSS J1036+6522. Although OW J1753–3107 appears to be a twin of SDSS J1036+6522, it exhibits a modulation on a period slightly longer than the dominant period in SDSS J1036+6522 and has a higher carbon abundance. The source of variations is uncertain, but they are believed to originate from the rotation of the magnetic white dwarf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery of 42 white dwarfs in the original Kepler mission field, including nine new confirmed pulsating hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs (ZZ Ceti stars). Guided by the Kepler-Isaac Newton Telescope Survey, we selected white dwarf candidates on the basis of their U - g, g - r, and r - Hα photometric colours. We followed up these candidates with high-signal-to-noise optical spectroscopy from the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope. Using ground-based, time series photometry, we put our sample of new spectroscopically characterized white dwarfs in the context of the empirical ZZ Ceti instability strip. Prior to our search, only two pulsating white dwarfs had been observed by Kepler. Ultimately, four of our new ZZ Cetis were observed from space. These rich data sets are helping initiate a rapid advancement in the asteroseismic investigation of pulsating white dwarfs, which continues with the extended Kepler mission, K2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT With orbital periods of the order of tens of minutes or less, the AM Canum Venaticorum stars are ultracompact, hydrogen-deficient binaries with the shortest periods of any binary subclass, and are expected to be among the strongest gravitational wave sources in the sky. To date, the only known eclipsing source of this type is the P= 28 min binary SDSS J0926+3624. We present multiband, high time resolution light curves of this system, collected with William Herschel Telescope (WHT)/ULTRACAM in 2006 and 2009. We supplement these data with additional observations made with Liverpool Telescope/Rapid Imager to Search for Exoplanets (LT/RISE), XMM-Newton and the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey. From light curve models we determine the mass ratio to be q= M2/ M1= 0.041 ± 0.002 and the inclination to be . We calculate the mass of the primary white dwarf to be 0.85 ± 0.04 M⊙ and the donor to be 0.035 ± 0.003 M⊙, implying a partially degenerate state for this component. We observe superhump variations that are characteristic of an elliptical, precessing accretion disc. Our determination of the superhump period excess is in agreement with the established relationship between this parameter and the mass ratio, and is the most precise calibration of this relationship at low q. We also observe a quasi-periodic oscillation in the 2006 data, and we examine the outbursting behaviour of the system over a 4.5 year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

V407 Vul and RX J0806.3+1527 are X-ray emitting stars with X-ray light curves that are 100 per cent modulated on periods of 569 and 321 s, respectively. These periods and no others are also seen at optical and infrared wavelengths. These properties have led to the suggestion that the periods are the orbital periods of ultracompact pairs of white dwarfs. There are two main double white dwarf models: the unipolar inductor model analogous to the Jupiter–Io system and the direct impact model analogous to Algol. In this paper, we consider geometrical constraints on the unipolar inductor model, in particular what parameter values (component masses, orbital inclination and magnetic colatitude) can describe the X-ray and optical light curves. We find that for a dipole field on the primary star, the unipolar inductor model fails to match the data on V407 Vul for any combination of parameters and can only match RX J0806.3+1527 if the sparser set of observations of this star have been unluckily timed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report observations of the asynchronous polar BY Cam made using XMM-Newton. We find evidence for two accretion regions which have significantly different spectra. In both regions we find evidence for hard X-ray emission from the post-shock flow while we observe a distinct soft X-ray blackbody component in only one. We detect two emission lines in the RGS detectors which we attribute to nitrogen N vi and N vii: the first time that nitrogen lines have been detected in an X-ray spectrum of a cataclysmic variable. In the time interval where we observe short time-scale variability we find the hard X-ray light curve is correlated with the softest energies in the sense that the hard X-rays trail the soft X-rays and are anti-correlated. We suggest that there are a small number of dense blobs of material which impact the white dwarf without forming a shock and release an amount of optically thick material which obscures hard X-rays for a short duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present spectroscopic and high-speed photometric data of the eclipsing polar V895 Cen. We find that the eclipsed component is consistent with it being the accretion regions on the white dwarf. This is in contrast to Stobie et al. who concluded that the eclipsed component was not the white dwarf. Further, we find no evidence for an accretion disc in our data. From our Doppler tomography results, we find that the white dwarf has M≳0.7 M[sub ⊙]. Our indirect imaging of the accretion stream suggests that the stream is brightest close to the white dwarf. When we observed V895 Cen in its highest accretion state, emission was concentrated along field lines leading to the upper pole. There is no evidence for enhanced emission at the magnetic coupling region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have extracted spectra of 20 magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) from the RXTE archive and best fitted them using the X-ray continuum method of Cropper et al. to determine the mass of the accreting white dwarf in each system. We find evidence that the mass distribution of these mCVs is significantly different from that of non-magnetic isolated white dwarfs, with the white dwarfs in mCVs being biased towards higher masses. It is unclear if this effect is a result of selection or whether this reflects a real difference in the parent populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]