Letter to the Editor

The periods of the intermediate polar RX J0153.3+7446

Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK e-mail: a.j.norton@open.ac.uk

Received: 6 December 2005
Accepted: 23 December 2005

Abstract

We present the first optical photometry of the counterpart to the candidate intermediate polar RX J0153.3+7446. This reveals an optical pulse period of  s. Reanalysis of the previously published ROSAT X-ray data reveals that the true X-ray pulse period is probably  s, rather than the 1414 s previously reported. Given that the previously noted orbital period of the system is 3.94 h, we are able to identify the X-ray pulse period with the white dwarf spin period and the optical pulse period with the rotation period of the white dwarf in the binary reference frame, as commonly seen in other intermediate polars. We thus confirm that RX J0153.3+7446 is indeed a typical intermediate polar.