Paper detail

The eclipsing binary HS0705+6700 and the search for circumbinary objects

HS0705+6700 (also identified as V470 Cam) is a short period (2.3 h) post common envelope detached eclipsing sdB binary system which exhibits transit time variations (TTVs) of a cyclical nature. We report a further 25 timings of light minima and show that our new TTVs support and extend this cyclical pattern to 1.6 periods. We examine possible causes of the observed TTVs and confirm that the presence of a third, and possibly a fourth, body could provide an elegant explanation of these cyclical variations. However other non-circumbinary mechanisms, e.g. Applegate magnetic dynamo effects, will remain possible contenders until sufficient data has been accumulated to demonstrate that the periodicity of the TTVs is time independent.