Abstract. The catalogue lists coordinates, apparent magnitudes, orbital parameters, and stellar parameters of the components and other characteristc properties of 472 cataclysmic binaries, 71 low-mass X-ray binaries and 113 related objects with known or suspected orbital periods together with a comprehensive selection of the relevant recent literature. In addition, the catalogue contains a list of references to published finding charts for 635 of the 656 objects, and a cross-reference list of alias object designations. Literature published before 1 January 2003 has, as far as possible, been taken into account. All data can be accessed via the dedicated catalogue webpage at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/RKcat/ and http://physics.open.ac.uk/RKcat/ and at CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (30.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/404/301. We will update the information given on the catalogue webpage regularly, initially every six months.

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We present near-UV transmission spectroscopy of the highly irradiated transiting exoplanet WASP-12b, obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spectra cover three distinct wavelength ranges:NUVA (2539-2580 Å); NUVB (2655-2696 Å); and NUVC (2770-2811 Å). Three independent methods all reveal enhanced transit depths attributable to absorption by resonance lines of metals in the exosphere of WASP-12b. Light curves of total counts in the NUVA and NUVC wavelength ranges show a detection at a 2.5σ level. We detect extra absorption in the Mg II λλ2800 resonance line cores at the 2.8σ level.The NUVA, NUVB and NUVC light curves imply effective radii of 2.69±0.24 R J , 2.18±0.18 R J , and 2.66±0.22 R J respectively, suggesting the planet is surrounded by an absorbing cloud which overfills the Roche lobe. We detect enhanced transit depths at the wavelengths of resonance lines of neutral sodium, tin and manganese, and at singly ionised ytterbium, scandium, manganese, aluminum, vanadium and magnesium. We also find the statistically expected number of anomalous transit depths at wavelengths not associated with any known resonance line. Our data are limited by photon noise, but taken as a whole the results are strong evidence for an extended absorbing exosphere surrounding the planet. The NUVA data exhibits an early ingress, contrary to model expectations; we speculate this could be due to the presence of a disk of previously stripped material. Subject headings: stars: individual (WASP-12) 1 http://archive.stsci.edu/ 2 See the COS Data Handbook for more information on CALCOS:

We discuss the properties of 137 cataclysmic variables (CVs) which are included in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic data base, and for which accurate orbital periods have been measured. 92 of these systems are new discoveries from SDSS and were followed‐up in more detail over the past few years. 45 systems were previously identified as CVs because of the detection of optical outbursts and/or X‐ray emission, and subsequently re‐identified from the SDSS spectroscopy. The period distribution of the SDSS CVs differs dramatically from that of all the previously known CVs, in particular it contains a significant accumulation of systems in the orbital period range 80–86 min. We identify this feature as the elusive ‘period minimum spike’ predicted by CV population models, which resolves a long‐standing discrepancy between compact binary evolution theory and observations. We show that this spike is almost entirely due to the large number of CVs with very low accretion activity identified by SDSS. The optical spectra of these systems are dominated by emission from the white dwarf photosphere, and display little or no spectroscopic signature from the donor stars, suggesting very low mass companion stars. We determine the average absolute magnitude of these low‐luminosity CVs at the period minimum to be 〈Mg〉= 11.6 ± 0.7. Comparison of the SDSS CV sample to the CVs found in the Hamburg Quasar Survey and the Palomar Green Survey suggests that the depth of SDSS is the key ingredient resulting in the discovery of a large number of intrinsically faint short‐period systems.

While a white dwarf is, from a theoretical perspective, the most plausible primary star in Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), many other candidates have not been formally ruled out. Shock energy deposited in the envelope of any exploding primary contributes to the early SN brightness and, since this radiation energy is degraded by expansion after the explosion, the diffusive luminosity depends on the initial primary radius. We present a new non-detection limit of the nearby SN Ia 2011fe, obtained what appears to be just 4 hours after explosion, allowing us to directly constrain the initial primary radius, R p . Coupled with the non-detection of a quiescent X-ray counterpart and the inferred synthesized 56 Ni mass, we show that R p ∼ < 0.02R (a factor of 5 smaller than previously inferred), that the average density of the primary must be ρ p > 10 4 gm cm −3 , and that the effective temperature must be less than a few ×10 5 K. This rules out hydrogen burning main sequence stars and giants. Constructing the helium-burning main sequence and carbon-burning main sequence, we find such objects are also excluded. By process of elimination, we find that only degeneracy-supported compact objects-WDs and neutron stars-are viable as the primary star of SN 2011fe. With few caveats, we also restrict the companion (secondary) star radius to R c ∼ < 0.1 R , excluding Roche-Lobe overflowing red giant and main-sequence companions to high significance.

The Catalog and Atlas of Cataclysmic Variables (Edition 1 -Downes and Shara (1993) and Edition 2 -Downes, Webbink, and Shara (1997)) has been a valuable source

Extended gas clouds have been previously detected surrounding the brightest known close-in hot Jupiter exoplanets, HD 209458 b and HD 189733 b; we observed the distant but more extreme close-in hot Jupiter system, WASP-12, with HST. Near-UV (NUV) transits up to three times deeper than the optical transit of WASP-12 b reveal extensive diffuse gas, extending well beyond the Roche lobe. The distribution of absorbing gas varies between visits. The deepest NUV transits are at wavelength ranges with strong photospheric absorption, implying the absorbing gas may have temperature and composition similar to the stellar photosphere. Our spectra reveal significantly enhanced absorption (greater than 3σ below the median) at ∼ 200 individual wavelengths on each of two HST visits; 65 of these wavelengths are consistent between the two visits, using a strict criterion for velocity matching which excludes matches with velocity shifts exceeding ∼ 20 km s −1 . Excess transit depths are robustly detected throughout the inner wings of the Mg II resonance lines independently on both HST visits. We detected absorption in Fe II 2586Å, the heaviest species yet detected in an exoplanet transit. The Mg II line cores have zero flux, emission cores exhibited by every other observed star of similar age and spectral type are conspicuously absent. WASP-12 probably produces normal Mg II profiles, but the inner portions of these strong resonance lines are likely affected by extrinsic absorption. The required Mg + column is an order of magnitude greater than expected from the ISM, though we cannot completely dismiss that possibility. A more plausible source of absorption is gas lost by WASP-12 b. We show that planetary mass loss can produce the required column. Our Visit 2 NUV light curves show evidence for a stellar flare. We show that some of the possible transit detections in resonance lines of rare elements may be due instead to non-resonant transitions in common species. We present optical observations and update the transit ephemeris. Subject headings: stars: individual (WASP-12, HD 189733) -planets and satellites: individual (WASP-12 b, HD189733 b) -planet-star interactions -planets and satellites: composition -planets and satellites: atmospheres -planets and satellites: physical evolution

Using improved, up‐to‐date stellar input physics tested against observations of low‐mass stars and brown dwarfs, we calculate the secular evolution of low‐mass donor cataclysmic variables (CVs), including those that form with a brown‐dwarf donor. Our models confirm the mismatch between the calculated minimum period (Pmin≃70 min) and the observed short‐period cut‐off (≃80 min) in the CV period histogram. We find that tidal and rotational corrections applied to the one‐dimensional stellar structure equations have no significant effect on the period minimum. Theoretical period distributions synthesized from our model sequences always show an accumulation of systems at the minimum period, a feature absent from the observed distribution. We suggest that non‐magnetic CVs become unobservable as they are effectively trapped in permanent quiescence before they reach Pmin, and that small‐number statistics may hide the period spike for magnetic CVs.