2010PASP..122.1285T

We obtained time-series radial-velocity spectroscopy of 20 cataclysmic variable stars, with the aim of determining orbital periods. All of the stars reported here prove to have. For 16 of the stars, these are the first available period determinations, and for the remaining four (V709 Cas, AF Cam, V1062 Tau, and RX), we use new observations to improve the accuracy of previously published periods. Most of the targets are dwarf novae, without notable idiosyncrasies. Of the remainder, three (V709 Cas, V1062 Tau, and RX) are intermediate polars (DQ Her stars); one (IPHAS 0345) is a secondary-dominated system without known outbursts, similar to LY UMa; one (V1059 Sgr) is an old nova; and two others (V478 Her and V1082 Sgr) are long-period novalike variables. The stars with new periods are IPHAS 0345 (0.314 days); V344 Ori (0.234 days); VZ Sex (0.149 days); NSVS (0.376 days); V478 Her (0.629 days); V1059 Sgr (0.286 days); V1082 Sgr (0.868 days); FO Aql (0.217 days); V587 Lyr (0.275 days); V792 Cyg (0.297 days); V795 Cyg (0.181 days); V811 Cyg (0.157 days); V542 Cyg (0.182 days); PQ Aql (0.247 days); V516 Cyg (0.171 days); and VZ Aqr (0.161 days). Noteworthy results on individual stars are as follows. We see no indication of the underlying white dwarf star in V709 Cas, as has been previously claimed; based on the nondetection of the secondary star, we argue that the system is farther away that had been thought and the white dwarf contribution is probably negligible. V478 Her had been classified as an SU UMa-type dwarf nova, but this is incompatible with the long orbital period we find. We report the first secondary-star velocity curve for V1062 Tau. In V542 Cyg, we find a late-type contribution that remains stationary in radial velocity, yet the system is unresolved in a direct image, suggesting that it is a hierarchical triple system.