RX J0806+15: the shortest period binary?

The X-ray source RX J0806+15 was discovered using ROSAT , and shows an X-ray light curve with a prominent modulation on a period of 321.5 s. We present optical observations in which we report the detection of its optical counterpart. We find an optical period consistent with the X-ray period. We do not find convincing evidence for a second period in the data: this implies the 321.5-s period is the orbital period. As such it would be the shortest period stellar binary system yet known. We discuss the nature of this system. We conclude that an isolated neutron star and an intermediate polar interpretation is unlikely and that a double degenerate interpretation is the most likely

Fluazinam in Soil : Analytical Method and Persistence in Boreal Conditions

Fungal disease late blight (Phytophthora infestans) causes considerable damage to potato crops worldwide. Fluazinam is a widely used pesticide employed against the late blight in potato cultivation. It ends up into soil during spraying and at the end of the growing season when potato foliage is incorporated into the soil. Nevertheless, there is very little literature about behaviour of fluazinam in soil, especially in the conditions that exist in Finland. Therefore, in the preparation of user guidelines, studies made elsewhere are used. From the environmental risks point of view, behaviour of fluazinam in Finnish conditions should be known better. Soils in the boreal zone are characterised by low pH and low temperatures that delay microbiological decomposition and they are typically high in organic matter and saturated by water for long periods in autumn, winter and spring. A prerequisite for assessing the environmental risk of fluazinam is knowledge of its sorption and desorption tendency as well as its degradation rate in boreal conditions. This information is needed, because more aggressive strains of Phytophthora infestans have spread to northern latitudes, increasing the need to use fungicides. In this study, a specific and repeatable high-performance liquid chromatography method utilizing a diode array detector was developed to determine the presence of fluazinam in soil. This method differs from most of the methods found in the literature, which used gas chromatography or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as an instrument for analysing fluazinam. The method consists of acetonitrile extraction, clean-up with solid-phase extraction and separation using a mobile phase consisting of 70% acetonitrile and 30% water (v v-1), including 0.02% acetic acid. The method was successfully applied to various laboratory experiments and to soil samples collected from potato fields in which fluazinam had been used. In the systematic experiments carried out in controlled conditions, performed with both the fluazinam standard and the commercial product Shirlan®, the effect of soil organic matter on the fluazinam degradation was tested, as well as the persistence of fluazinam in the boreal zone soils for a maximum of one year. The major outcomes of the laboratory experiments were that fluazinam degradation was enhanced by the presence of soil organic matter and even after one year of incubation, more than half of the added fluazinam was recovered. Additionally, soil samples were collected from intensively cultivated potato fields. Over half of these field samples contained varying concentrations of fluazinam, but no substantial accumulation of fluazinam was detected

Phase-resolved optical and X-ray spectroscopy of low-mass X-ray binary X1822-371

(Abridged) X1822-371 is the prototypical accretion disc corona X-ray source, a low-mass X-ray binary viewed at very high inclination, thereby allowing the disc structure and extended disc coronal regions to be visible. We study the structure of the accretion disc in X1822-371 by modelling the phase-resolved spectra both in optical and X-ray regime. We analyse high time resolution optical ESO/VLT spectra of X1822-371 to study the variability in the emission line profiles. In addition, we use data from XMM-Newton space observatory to study phase-resolved as well as high resolution X-ray spectra. We apply the Doppler tomography technique to reconstruct a map of the optical emission distribution in the system. We fit multi-component models to the X-ray spectra. We find that our results from both the optical and X-ray analysis can be explained with a model where the accretion disc has a thick rim in the region where the accretion stream impacts the disc. The behaviour of the H_beta line complex implies that some of the accreting matter creates an outburst around the accretion stream impact location and that the resulting outflow of matter moves both away from the accretion disc and towards the centre of the disc. Such behaviour can be explained by an almost isotropic outflow of matter from the accretion stream impact region. The optical emission lines of HeII 4686 and 5411 show double peaked profiles, typical for an accretion disc at high inclination. However, their velocities are slower than expected for an accretion disc in a system like X1822-371. This, combined with the fact that the HeII emission lines do not get eclipsed during the partial eclipse in the continuum, suggests that the line emission does not originate in the orbital plane and is more likely to come from above the accretion disc, for example the accretion disc wind.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&

An ``outside-in'' outburst of Aql X--1

We present optical spectroscopy and optical and infrared photometry of the neutron star soft X-ray transient Aql X--1 during its X-ray outburst of August 1997. By modelling the X-ray, optical, and IR light curves, we find a 3 day delay between the IR and X-ray rise times, analogous to the UV-optical delay seen in dwarf novae outbursts and black hole X-ray transients. We interpret this delay as the signature of an ``outside-in'' outburst, in which a thermal instability in the outer disc propagates inward. This outburst is the first of this type definitively identified in a neutron star X-ray transient.Comment: 6 pages latex, 2 figures, Accepted by MNRA

The GOSSIP on the MCV V347 Pav

Modelling of the polarized cyclotron emission from magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs) has been a powerful technique for determining the structure of the accretion zones on the white dwarf. Until now, this has been achieved by constructing emission regions (for example arcs and spots) put in by hand, in order to recover the polarized emission. These models were all inferred indirectly from arguments based on polarization and X-ray light curves. Potter, Hakala & Cropper (1998) presented a technique (Stokes imaging) which objectively and analytically models the polarized emission to recover the structure of the cyclotron emission region(s) in MCVs. We demonstrate this technique with the aid of a test case, then we apply the technique to polarimetric observations of the AM Her system V347 Pav. As the system parameters of V347 Pav (for example its inclination) have not been well determined, we describe an extension to the Stokes imaging technique which also searches the system parameter space (GOSSIP)