Direct Detection of SDSS J0926+3624 Orbital Expansion with ARCONS

Journal Article · Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu137· OSTI ID:1335012

Szypryt, P. ^[1]; Duggan, G. E. ^[2]; Mazin, B. A. ^[1]; Meeker, S. R. ^[1]; Strader, M. J. ^[1]; van Eyken, J. C. ^[1]; Marsden, D. ^[1]; O'Brien, K. ^[3]; Walter, A. B. ^[1]; Ulbricht, G. ^[1]; Prince, T. A. ^[2]; Stoughton, C. ^[4]; Bumble, B. ^[5]

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1. UC, Santa Barbara
2. Caltech
3. Oxford U.
4. Fermilab
5. Caltech, JPL

AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) stars belong to a class of ultra-compact, short period binaries with spectra dominated largely by helium. SDSS J0926+3624 is of particular interest as it is the first observed eclipsing AM CVn system. We observed SDSS J0926+3624 with the \textbf{Ar}ray \textbf{C}amera for \textbf{O}ptical to \textbf{N}ear-IR \textbf{S}pectrophotometry (ARCONS) at the Palomar 200" telescope. ARCONS uses a relatively new type of energy-resolved photon counters called Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs). ARCONS, sensitive to radiation from 350 to 1100 nm, has a time resolution of several microseconds and can measure the energy of a photon to $$\sim10%$$. We present the light curves for these observations and examine changes in orbital period from prior observations. Using a quadratic ephemeris model, we measure a period rate of change $$\dot{P} = (3.07 \pm 0.56)\times 10^{-13}$$. In addition, we use the high timing resolution of ARCONS to examine the system's high frequency variations and search for possible quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs). Finally, we use the instrument's spectral resolution to examine the light curves in various wavelength bands. We do not find any high frequency QPOs or significant spectral variability throughout an eclipse.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 1335012
• Report Number(s): arXiv:1309.4087; FERMILAB-PUB-13-690-A; 1254347
• Journal Information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 439, Issue 3; ISSN 0035-8711
• Publisher: Royal Astronomical Society
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS