A cyclical period variation detected in the updated orbital period analysis of TV Columbae

Abstract

Two CCD photometries of the intermediate polar TV Columbae are made for obtaining two updated eclipse timings with high precision. There is an interval time ~17 yr since the last mid-eclipse time observed in 1991. Thus, the new mid-eclipse times might offer an opportunity to check the previous orbital ephemerides. A calculation indicates that the orbital ephemeris derived by Augusteijn et al. (Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 107:219, 1994) should be corrected. Based on the proper linear ephemeris (Hellier in Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 264:132, 1993), the new orbital period analysis suggests a cyclical period variation in the O-C diagram of TV Columbae. Using Applegate's mechanism to explain the periodic oscillation in the O-C diagram, the required energy is larger than the energy that a M0-type star can afford over a complete variation period of ~31.0(±3.0) yr. Thus, the light travel-time effect indicates that the tertiary component in TV Columbae may be a dwarf with a low mass, which is near the lower mass limit of ~0.08M⊙ as long as the inclination of the third body is high enough.