The nucleus of Abell 35 : a cataclysmic binary ?

Abstract

Simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations of the visible central star BD - 22 deg 3467 of the large planetary nebula Abell 35 are reported. This fast rotating star has a spectral type G8IV, and shows a double peaked emission line at H-alpha, varying with a period identical to the photometric one, equal to 0.7653 days. Both the maximum brightness of the system, and the amplitude of the light curves in UBV have decreased between 1986 and 1988. Observations are interpreted as the behavior of a cataclysmic binary, where one component is a Roche-lobe-filling subgiant star and the other a white dwarf surrounded by an accretion disk. The size of the system is about 4 solar radii, with i = 15 deg; this value is compatible with the radius of a subgiant star. The mass of this star is estimated to about 1.5 solar masses. The brightness decrease could be caused by erratic dark starspots, probably linked with chromospheric activity of the G star.