V803 Centauri

V803 Centauri is a cataclysmic binary consisting of a dwarf helium star losing mass to a white dwarf. It is an example of the AM Canum Venaticorum type of cataclysmic variable stars.
Aina Margareta Elvius announced the discovery of this star in 1975. It was given its variable star designation, V803 Centauri, in 1978. The light curve shows a "low state" at about magnitude 17, with rapid outbursts of several magnitudes lasting only a few days or brighter super-outbursts lasting a few weeks, and a "high state" at up to 13th magnitude. V803 Centauri is most often seen in the high state, where it may stay bright for a year or more.
The donor star has been radically stripped of material and now only around remains. With its outer layers removed, the helium core has expanded and cooled and is almost impossible to detect directly. The accreting white dwarf has a temperature around. Most of the light from V803 Cen is produced by an accretion disk, especially when the system is in outburst. The accretion disk shows a blackbody temperature around.