1. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli AQUEYE: SCIENTIFIC TARGETS

2. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli Aqueye: ultrafast photometer Exploitation of high time resolution to study high speed astrophysical phenomena in: Pulsars Cataclysmic variables X-ray binaries Pulsating white dwarfs Pulsating neutron stars Flare stars Planetary nebulae Stars with transiting exoplanets

3. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli PULSAR Formation by a supernova explosion Neutron star extremely high density extremely high rotational velocity (periods range from 1.5 ms to 8.5 s ) intense magnetic field (typically in the range of 10^8 - 10^12 gauss )

4. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli Pulsars are highly magnetized rotating neutron stars Accelerated charged particles emissions in radio, visible, x-ray and  - ray domains

5. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli Lighthouse effect extraordinarily rapid and stable rotation pulsed nature very regular rotation period (the regularity of pulsation is as precise as an atomic clock) pulsars as useful instrument for Aqueye’s calibration

6. Crab Pulsar The first pulsar discovered (1968) Remnant of AD1054 supernova It lies in the Crab Nebula (M1) Period: P= 33 ms Delay: 36ns /day The brightest optical pulsar we know Double pulse per rotation in visible, X-ray and  -ray domains The most energetic pulsar we know Right ascension: 05h 34m 31.97s Declination: +22° 00’ 52.1’’

7. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES CVs = binary systems in which a late-type secondary star fills the Roche lobe and transfers matter onto a white dwarf (WF) CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE MAGNETIC BEHAVIOUR: 1) non-magnetic systems

8. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli 2) Intermediate- Polars ( DQ Herculis stars) 3) Polars (AM herculis stars)

9. CVs’ flickering FLICKERING = stochastic brightness variations Time scale : dozen minutes less than a second Amplitudes : a few tenths of magnitude magnitude scale Fig: lightcurve of V709 Cas (Tamburini et al., in preparation) flickering as a continuous series of overlapping flares and bursts in the light curves of CVs with random variability

10. WHY IS FLICKERING IMPORTANT? 1) it’s a fundamental signature of accretion processes 2) it represents a significant fraction of the total luminosity of the source OPEN QUESTIONS : 1) what’s the exact physical nature? 2) is flickering a self-similar process also at very small scales? HIGH SPEED PHOTOMETRY short time-scale down to which flickering is still self-similar vital information about the driving mechanism behind flickering understanding the physics occurring at much shorter time-scales

11. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli ObjectRA(J2000)Dec(J2000)Type ΔmorbPspin (s) Porb (h) ST LMi11 05 39.8+25 06 28.9P15.1 (B) 1.8 (B)- 1.898 YY Dra11 43 38.3+71 41 20.4IP14.0 (V) 2.0 (V)529.31 3.969 AM CV12 34 54.6+37 37 43.4NL14.1 (V) 0.1 (V)- 0.286 (17.1 min) GP Com13 05 42.9+18 01 03NL15.6 (B) 0.4 (B)- 0.776 (46.6 min) CT Ser15 45 39.0+14 22 32.7N16.3 (V) 0.3 (V)- 4.68 DQ Her18 07 30.3+45 51 32.6IP15.2 (V) 3.5 (V)71.0664.647 V533 Her 18 14 20.3+41 51 21.3N14.4 (V) 0.8 (V)63.633.528 AM Her18 16 13.3+49 52 04.2P12.0 (V) 1.5 (V)-3.094 ObjectRA(J2000)Dec(J2000)Type ΔmorbPspin (s)Porb (h) WW Cet00 11 24.8-11 28 42.7DN13.9 (V) 2.2 (V)5914.219 V709 Cas 00 28 48.9+59 17 21.8IP14.1 (V) 0.5 (V)312.755.340 RX And01 04 35.6+41 17 58.0DN14.0 (V) 1.5 (V)-5.037 XY Ari02 56 09.0+19 26 29IP13.1 (K) 0.4 (K)206.2986.065 GK Per03 31 11.8+43 54 16.8IP12.8 (V)0.9 (V)351.33247.923 V1159 Ori 05 28 59.5-03 33 52.8DN13.6 (V)1.8 (V)-1.492 V405 Aur 05 57 59.3+53 53 44.9IP13.9 (V) 0.7 (V)545.4554.143 KR Aur06 15 43.9+28 35 08.9NL11.3 (B)2.3 (B)-3.907 BG CMi07 31 29.0+09 56 22.6IP14.3 (V) 1.1 (V)847.033.234 PQ Gem07 51 17.4+14 44 24.6IP14.0 (V)0.5 (V)833.425.193 EI UMa08 38 22.0+48 38 01.7DN14.8 (V)1.2 (V)741.66.434 - P = polar, IP = intermediate polar, N = nova, NL = nova-like, DN = dwarf nova 4-6 APRIL 8-12 OCTOBER

12. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli 22-27 OCTOBER ObjectRA(J2000)Dec(J2000)Type ΔmorbPspin (s)Porb (h) RX And01 04 35.6+41 17 58.0DN14.0 (V) 1.5 (V)-5.037 XY Ari02 56 09.0+19 26 29IP13.1 (K) 0.4 (K)206.2986.065 GK Per03 31 11.8+43 54 16.8IP12.8 (V)0.9 (V)351.33247.923 V1159 Ori 05 28 59.5-03 33 52.8DN13.6 (V)1.8 (V)-1.492 V405 Aur 05 57 59.3+53 53 44.9IP13.9 (V) 0.7 (V)545.4554.143 KR Aur06 15 43.9+28 35 08.9NL11.3 (B)2.3 (B)-3.907 BG CMi07 31 29.0+09 56 22.6IP14.3 (V) 1.1 (V)847.033.234 PQ Gem07 51 17.4+14 44 24.6IP14.0 (V)0.5 (V)833.425.193 EI UMa08 38 22.0+48 38 01.7DN14.8 (V)1.2 (V)741.66.434 BK Lyn09 20 11.2+33 56 42.6NL14.5 (V)2.4 (V)-1.800 YY Dra11 43 38.3+71 41 20.4IP14.0 (V)2.0 (V)529.313.969 P = polar, IP = intermediate polar, N = nova, NL = nova-like, DN = dwarf nova

13. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli QPOs (Quasi Periodic Oscillations) QPOs = quasi coherent variabilities about certain frequencies Main sources: Low Mass X-Ray Binaries Probable emission ‘s cause: shocked wave created on the accretion disk Why are we interested in? to understand the innermost regions of accretion disks of the central compact objects What sort of variation with time could cause a QPO?

14. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli PULSATING WHITE DWARFS and NEUTRON STARS Luminosity varitions due to radial and non-radial pulsations: Oscillations time-scale: white dwarfs  100–1000 ms neutron stars  100  s superposition of vibrational modes light output variations asteroseismological evidence about the interiors of the star

15. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli 4-6 APRIL ObjectRADecType ΔmpulsPeriod(s) (sec) HE 1258+012313 01 110.5+01 07 39.7DAV16.26 (V)0.18 (V)529 - 1092 IU Vir14 03 57.2-15 01 10DAV15.67 (B)0.30 (B)399, 610, 724, 937 TY CrB16 01 21.2+36 48 34.3DAV14.36 (V)0.15 (V) 833, complex V470 Lyr 18 57 30.2+33 57 25.9DAV14.62 (V)0.06 (V)259, 292, 557, 739 PT Vul19 52 28+25 09 24DAV15.12 (V)0.05 (V)256 ObjectRADecType ΔmpulsPeriod(s) (sec) ZZ Cet01 36 13.6-11 20 32.2DAV14.16 (V)0.01 (V)213, 274 GD 1400 01 47 21.8-21 56 51DAV15.4 (V)0.24 (V)462 - 823 V411 Tau 04 18 56.5+27 17 51.4DAV15.20 (V)0.28 (V)494, 625, 746 V468 Per 04 20 18+36 16 36DAV15.59 (V)0.22 (V)910, 1024 V1396 Ori 05 10 13.9+04 38 44DAV15.36 (V)0.2 (V)355, 445, 560 DAV = ZZ Cet WD, DBV = V777 Her WD, DOV = GW Vir 8-12 OCTOBER

16. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli 22-27 DECEMBER Object RADecType ΔmpulsPeriod(s) (sec) ZZ Cet +01 36 13.6-11 20 32.2DAV14.16 (V)0.01 (V)213, 274 V411 Tau 04 18 56.5+27 17 51.4DAV15.20 (V)0.28 (V)494, 625, 746 V468 Per 04 20 18+36 16 36DAV15.59 (V)0.22 (V)910, 1024 V1396 Ori 05 10 13.9+04 38 44DAV15.36 (V)0.2 (V)355, 445, 560 VW Lyn 09 01 48.7+36 07 07.7DAV14.55 (V)0.07 (V)350, 481, 592 RY LMi 09 24 16+35 16 54DAV15.50 (V)0.06 (V)215, 271, 304 SW LMi 09 57 50+33 59 42DBV17.2 (B)0.30 (B) 650, complex DAV = ZZ Cet WD, DBV = V777 Her WD, DOV = GW Vir

17. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli FLARE STARS ObjectRA(J2000)Dec(J2000) TSp FL Vir12 33 26.5 +09 01 01 12.50 (V)dM5.5e/M7 GJ 64316 55 25.23 -08 19 21.3 11.70 (V)dM3.5 V1054 Oph16 55 28.76 -08 20 10.8 9.04 (V)dM3e VB8 (Gl644C)16 55 35.74 -08 23 36.0 16.70 (V)dM7 ObjectRA(J2000)Dec(J2000) TSp V1005 Ori04 59 35.1 +01 47 09 10.05 (V)M1Ve YZ CMi07 44 43 +03 33.7 11.12 (V)dM4.5° 4-6 APRIL 8-12, 22-27 OTTOBRE FLARE STARS = variable star which can undergo unpredictable increases in brightness for a few minutes

18. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli PLANETARY NEBULAE PLANETARY NEBULAE astrophysical laser emissions RA Dec 21 07 01.6 +42 14 10.2 8.8 (V) NGC 7027 :

19. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli STARS WITH TRANSITING EXOPLANETS observation of planetary transit (for a large time span!) accurate evaluation of the transit starting time observation of TTVs (Transit Timing Variations) detection of other exoplanets orbiting around the same parent star high time resolution detection of companion planets withsmall masses large mutual distances

20. Bled, 26-28 March 2008Anna Sponselli ObjectRA Dec Porb (day)Mass (MJ) XO-116 02 12+28 10 1111.3 (V)3.9415340.9 HD147506 16 20 36+41 02 538.71 (V)5.633418.17 HD14902616 30 29+38 20 508.15 (V)2.87660.36 TrES-317 52 07+37 32 4612.4 (V)1.306191.92 TrES-119 04 09+36 37 5711.79 (V)3.03007370.61 TrES-219 07 14+49 18 5911.41 (V)2.470631.98 ObjectRADec Porb (day)Mass (MJ) WASP-100 20 40+31 59 2411.79 (V)2.519970.89 XO-207 48 07+50 13 3311.18 (V)2.6158380.57 ObjectRADec Porb (day)Mass (MJ) XO-207 48 07+50 13 3311.18 (V)2.6158380.57 4-6 APRIL 8-12 OCTOBER 22-27 DECEMBER