Observation of Superhumps during the 1995 October Superoutburst of AW Geminorum

An SU UMa-type dwarf nova, AW Gem, was observed during the 1995 October superoutburst. Time-resolved CCD photometry yielded a refined estimate of the superhump period of 0.07943 (±0.00002) d. Observations of the initial stage of the superoutburst revealed that the superhumps started to grow within one day of the start of the superoutburst, until attaining their full amplitude during an additional two days. Marked QPOs with periods of 4–5 min were observed during the growing stage of the superhumps, showing their maximal amplitudes on the declining branches from the superhump maxima. These facts suggest that QPOs during the early stage of a superoutburst may be physically related to the growth mechanism of the superhumps.