Superoutburst of SDSS J090221.35+381941.9: First measurement of mass ratio in an AM CVn-type object using growing superhumps

Abstract

Abstract We report on a superoutburst of the AM CVn-type object SDSS J090221.35+381941.9 [J0902; orbital period 0.03355(6) d] in 2014 March–April. The entire superoutburst consisted of a precursor outburst and the main superoutburst, followed by a short rebrightening. During the rising phase of the main superoutburst, we detected growing superhumps (stage A superhumps) with a period of 0.03409(1) d. During the plateau phase of the superoutburst, superhumps with a shorter period (stage B superhumps) were observed. Using the orbital period and the period of stage A superhumps, we were able to measure the dynamical precession rate of the accretion disk at the 3:1 resonance, and obtained a mass ratio (q) of 0.041(7). This is the first successful measurement of the mass ratio in an AM CVn-type object accomplished by the recently developed stage A superhump method. The value is generally in agreement with that based on the theoretical evolutionary model. The orbital period of J0902 is the longest among those of the outbursting AM CVn-type objects, and a period on the borderline between the outbursting system and the system with a stable cool disk appears to be longer than one supposed.