The dwarf nova WX Cet: a clone of WZ Sge or a pretender?

Abstract

We present charge-coupled device (CCD) photometry of WX Cet in quiescence. Apart from the flickering which is characteristic to cataclysmic binaries, our data also reveal the periodic modulation of the brightness of WX Cet with a period of 0.058 27±0.000 02, with further restrictions on it. This period is derived from our data alone, but it agrees, within errors, with the spectroscopic period of Thorstensen et al. Hence the most likely spectroscopic and photometric periods are identical and correspond to the orbital motion. Our data were obtained during two observational seasons in 1990 and 1998. In the former season we observed what appears to be the ordinary orbital hump. However, in 1998 we observed both single- and double-hump orbital modulation. Several authors have noted the similarities between WX Cet and WZ Sge: the occurrence of rare, large-amplitude, long-lasting superoutbursts with superhump modulation, and the slow rate of decline. Both stars have similar, extremely short orbital periods. We recorded further similarities: the orbital modulation of brightness, with switching between single- and double-hump light curves. Patterson noticed that superhump excesses in WX Cet and WZ Sge are different in that they may fall on different evolutionary branches (pre-period minimum versus post-period minimum). We demonstrate that the masses of their white dwarfs differ by a factor of two.