Analyzing data from the Spektr-RG space observatory and the Zwicky Transient Facility, astronomers from the California
Cataclysmic variables (CV, cataclysmicvariables) are binary star systems that consist of a white dwarf and a normal companion star. They brighten unevenly many times before returning to a resting state. Polars are a subclass of cataclysmic variables that are different from other CVs the presence of a very strong magnetic field in their white dwarfs.
Now a group of astronomers led byAntonio Rodriguez from the California Institute of Technology discovered two new strange polars, which they named ZTFJ0850+0443 and ZTFJ0926+0105. They were found thanks to a comparison of the eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS) catalog with forced photometry ZTF Data Release 5 (DR5).
According to the study, ZTFJ0850+0443 representsis an eclipsing polar with an orbital period of 1.72 hours at a distance of about 3,260 light-years from Earth. The mass of its white dwarf is about 0.81 solar masses, and the mass of its companion star is estimated to be about 0.12 solar masses. The results show that ZTFJ0850+0443 has an unusually weak magnetic field strength, below 10 MGs.
At a distance of about 1,200 lightyears ZTFJ0926+0105 is an uneclipsing polar with an orbital period of about 1.48 hours. It has a magnetic field strength more typical for polars - at least 26 MGs. But ZTFJ0926+0105 is not an eclipsing star, so the team was unable to measure the mass of the mysterious white dwarf.
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