V1432 Aquilae is the only known eclipsing asynchronous polar. In this respect it is unique and therefore merits our attention. We report the results of a 15-year campaign by the globally distributed Center for Backyard Astrophysics to observe V1432 A
ql and investigate its return to synchronism. Originally knocked out of synchrony by a nova explosion before observing records began, the magnetic white dwarf in V1432 Aql is currently rotating slower than the orbital period but is gradually catching up. The fortuitously high inclination of the binary orbit affords us the bonus of eclipses providing a regular clock against which these temporal changes can be assessed. At the present rate, synchronism should be achieved around 2100. The continually changing trajectory of the accretion stream as it follows the magnetic field lines of the rotating white dwarf produces a complex pattern of light emission which we have measured and documented, providing comprehensive observational evidence against which physical models of the system can be tested.
We summarize the results of a 20-year campaign to study the light curves of BK Lyncis, a nova-like star strangely located below the 2-3 hour orbital period gap in the family of cataclysmic variables. Two apparent superhumps dominate the nightly light
curves - with periods 4.6% longer, and 3.0% shorter, than P_orb. The first appears to be associated with the stars brighter states (V~14), while the second appears to be present throughout and becomes very dominant in the low state (V~15.7). Starting in the year 2005, the stars light curve became indistinguishable from that of a dwarf nova - in particular, that of the ER UMa subclass. Reviewing all the stars oddities, we speculate: (a) BK Lyn is the remnant of the probable nova on 30 December 101, and (b) it has been fading ever since, but has taken ~2000 years for the accretion rate to drop sufficiently to permit dwarf-nova eruptions. If such behavior is common, it can explain other puzzles of CV evolution. One: why the ER UMa class even exists (because all members can be remnants of recent novae). Two: why ER UMa stars and short-period novalikes are rare (because their lifetimes, which are essentially cooling times, are short). Three: why short-period novae all decline to luminosity states far above their true quiescence (because theyre just getting started in their postnova cooling). Four: why the orbital periods, accretion rates, and white-dwarf temperatures of short-period CVs are somewhat too large to arise purely from the effects of gravitational radiation (because the unexpectedly long interval of enhanced postnova brightness boosts the mean mass-transfer rate). These are substantial rewards in return for one investment of hypothesis: that the second parameter in CV evolution, besides P_orb, is time since the last classical-nova eruption.
