Long-Term Variation of the Spin Period of a Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable, MU Camelopardalis

Results of an analysis of 11 nights of R-filter CCD photometry data of an intermediate polar MU Camelopardalis (MU Cam) obtained at the Korean 1.0 m telescope at Mt. Lemmon are reported. After checking the spin period with our data, $P_{spin}=0.^d01373801(59)$, we compiled the reported data of maxima timing and an O-C diagram analysis has been carried out to understand the spin period variation. A significant spin period variation was detected, and fitting the O-C points to a cubic parabola led to an ephemeris of $BJD_{max}=2453682.4178(94)+0.0137380(13)E-2.07(55){\times}10^{-11}E^2+2.28(52){\times}10^{-15}E^3$. The torque experienced by the magnetic compact star accreting in a disk is estimated as ${\tau}{\approx}1.815{\times}10^{35}gcm^2/s^2$ in a simple approximation in order to show how important monitoring the period variation is. Thus we conclude that monitoring the long-term spin period variation will help to understand the physical condition of magnetic compact stars.