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Setting DEFAULTSORT key to RX J0806.3+1527 using Hot Default Sort |
PopePompus (talk | contribs) Added a light curve |
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==Observations==
[[File:HMCncLightCurve.png|thumb|left|A [[Photometric_system#Photometric_letters|green band]] light curve for HM Cancri, adapted from Barros ''et al.'' (2007)<ref name="Barros">{{cite journal |last1=Barros |first1=S. C. C. |last2=Marsh |first2=T. R. |last3=Dhillon |first3=V. S. |last4=Groot |first4=P. J. |last5=Littlefair |first5=S. |last6=Nelemans |first6=G. |last7=Roelofs |first7=G. |last8=Steeghs |first8=D. |last9=Wheatley |first9=P. J. |title=ULTRACAM photometry of the ultracompact binaries V407 Vul and HM Cnc |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |date=1 February 2007 |volume=374 |issue=4 |pages=1334–1346 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11244.x |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11244.x |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>]]
As RX J0806.3+1527 is a pair of white dwarfs, it has a relatively low optical luminosity. The 321.5 s modulation of RX J0806.3+1527 was discovered serendipitously in 1999 thanks to the [[ROSAT]] mission working in the X-ray band. Optical follow-up observations with the [[ESO]] [[Very Large Telescope]] (VLT), [[Telescopio Nazionale Galileo]] (TNG) and [[Nordic Optical Telescope]] (NOT) allowed the counterpart to be identified, a relatively dim (20.7 [[magnitude (astronomy)|magnitude]] in the B filter) object which shows an optical modulation at the same period detected in the X-ray band. The optical monitoring of the counterpart of RX J0806.3+1527 during 2001-2004 clearly shows that the period is decreasing at a rate of about 1/1000 s each year. This result was confirmed by monitoring the source in the X-rays for several years.
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