Photometry of some more neglected bright cataclysmic variables and candidates

Abstract

As part of an effort to better characterize bright cataclysmic variables (CVs) and related systems which have received little attention in the past light curves of four systems (V504 Cen, KT Eri, Ret 1 and CTCV 2056-3014) are analyzed. For some of these stars no time resolved photometry has been published previously. While flickering is observed in all systems except Ret 1, it is particularly strong in V504 Cen and CTCV 2056-3014. In the latter star, a previously observed 15.4 m period, leading to its tentative classification as an intermediate polar, is probably spurious. Variations on time scales of hundredths of days observed in the pre-outburst light curve of the classical nova KT Eri continue after the outburst but appear not to be strictly periodic. Furthermore, the long term post-outburst light curve exhibits modulations with quasi-periods of quite different length. Thus, these variations cannot be due to aspect related variations in a system with a giant component similar to some recurrent novae. Instead, the system possibly exhibits variations with a period of 0.1952 d which may be orbital. However, any such conclusion still requires confirmation.