Open AccessLong‐term optical/infrared variability in the quiescent X‐ray transient V404 Cyg
Author(s) -
Zurita C.,
Casares J.,
Hynes R. I.,
Shahbaz T.,
Charles P. A.,
Pavlenko E. P.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07979.x
Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , photometry (optics) , amplitude , light curve , infrared , wavelength , maxima , flare , astronomy , stars , optics , art , performance art , art history
We present the results of optical and infrared photometry of the quiescent X‐ray transient V404 Cyg during the period 1992–2003. The ellipsoidal modulations extracted from the most complete data bases (years 1992, 1998 and 2001) show unequal maxima and minima with relative strength varying from year to year although their peak‐to‐peak amplitudes remain roughly constant at 0.24 ± 0.01 mag . Fast optical variations superimposed on the double‐humped ellipsoidal modulation of the secondary star were detected every year with a mean amplitude of ∼0.07 mag. We have not found significant changes in the activity during this decade which indicates that this variability is probably not connected to the 1989 outburst. We have found periodicities in the 1998 and 2001 data near the 6‐h quasi‐periodicity observed in 1992, although we interpret it as a consequence of the appearance of a flare event almost every night. Significant variability is also present in the I and near‐infrared ( J and K s ) bands and this decreases slightly or remains approximately constant at longer wavelengths. A cross‐correlation analysis shows that both the R and I emission are simultaneous down to 40 s.