Raman scattered O VI features at 6825 Å and 7082 Å found in symbiotic stars are important spectroscopic tools to probe the mass transfer process. Adopting a Monte Carlo approach, we perform a profile analysis of Raman O VI features of the yellow SySt AG Draconis and make a comparison with the spectrum obtained with CFHT. It is assumed that the accretion flow is convergent on the entering side with enhanced O VI emission and the flux ratio F(1032)/F(1038)∼1, whereas on the opposite side the flow is divergent with low O VI emission and F(1032/F(1038)∼2. Our best fit to the spectrum is obtained from our model with a mass-loss rate of the giant ∼4 × 10−7 M⊙ yr−1. A slight red wing excess in the spectrum suggests the presence of bipolar neutral components receding in the directions perpendicular to the binary orbital plane with a speed ∼70km s−1

We present a high-resolution optical spectrum of the symbiotic nova RR Tel obtained with MIKE at Magellan-Clay telescope. RR Tel is a wide binary system of a hot white dwarf and a Mira with an orbital period of a few decades, where the white dwarf is accreting through gravitational capture of some fraction of material shed by the Mira. We find broad emission features at 6825, 7082, 7023, and 7053 Å, which are formed through Raman scattering of far-UV O VI ⋋⋋ 1032 and 1038 Å, C II ⋋⋋ 1036 and 1037 Å with atomic hydrogen. Raman O VI features exhibit clear double-peak profiles indicative of an accretion flow with a characteristic speed ∼ 30 km s−1, whereas the Raman C II features have a single Gaussian profile. We perform a profile analysis of the Raman O VI by assuming that O VI emission traces the accretion flow around the white dwarf with a fiducial scale of 1 AU. A comparison of the restored fluxes of C II ⋋⋋ 1036 and 1037 from Raman C II features with the observed C II ⋋ 1335 multiplet is consistent with the distance of RR Tel ∼ 2.6 kpc based on interstellar extinction of C II.

We present the first results from the systematic observational campaign aimed at studying rapid photometric variability (i.e., flickering) in southern symbiotic stars. In particular, we report on the discovery of strong flickering from V648Car (also known as SS73-17), a poorly studied system belonging to the small class of hard X-ray emitting symbiotic stars. To our knowledge, with a U-band flickering amplitude >0.6mag over time scales of minutes, it is one of the most significant flickering ever reported from a symbiotic star.