Astron. Astrophys. 353, 646-654 (2000)

4. Conclusions

It has been shown that RX J1313.2-3259 belongs to the class of magnetic cataclysmic variables called AM Herculis binaries or Polars. It has a period of 251.4 min, which places it above the period gap, and a distance of  200 pc. From the occurrence of cyclotron humps a magnetic field strength of 56 MG for the main accreting pole has been deduced. The inclination is  66^o implying a white dwarf mass of  0.4 , with a likely mass for the secondary of 0.45 , corresponding to a mass ratio . A rough estimate of the mass accretion rate leads to yr^-1 for the high state and yr^-1 for the low state. The rather low mass of the white dwarf required for reproducing the observed cyclotron emission is in conflict with our present understanding of stable mass transfer and the evolutionary history of cataclysmic variables, so further observations of this system are of great interest.

© European Southern Observatory (ESO) 2000

Online publication: December 17, 1999
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