The 1991 V603 Aquilae campaign - Superhumps and P-dots

The results are reported of an extensive 1991 campaign to determine an accurate value of the period of the old nova V603 Aquilae, free from aliasing, in at least one season. Phase drift of +/- 0.3 cycles around the mean period is present on a time scale of about six months. The period is shown to be unstable. There is an interesting resemblance of the 0.146 day photometric signal to the 'superhumps' of dwarf novae. However, the light variations are irregular and not similar to those of dwarf novae. The relationship between observed orbital and superhump period is studied, and it is predicted that V603 Aql is the first of many noneruptive cataclysmic variables which will be recognized as showing superhumps.