Photopolarimetric activity of the Ae Herbig star SV Cep

We present the results of simultaneous UBVRI photometric and polarimetric o bservations of the Ae Herbig star SV Cep made in 1987-1998. Over these 11 y ears, only a single deep (Delta V>1(m)) brightness minimum was observed. Ne ar this minimum, the brightness decrease was accompanied by an increase of the linear polarization, as is typical of young UX Ori stars. The photometr ic observations of SV Cep indicate reversals of the color tracks in brightn ess minima, as is common for stars of this type, as well as variations of t he slopes of the color tracks during and after minima. This provides eviden ce that the circumstellar dust clouds screening the star differ in their si zes and masses, and also in the optical properties of their dust particles. A Fourier analysis of the brightness variations of SV Cep (including data from the literature) confirms the presence of previously suspected activity cycles with periods P-1 = 4000(d) and P-2 = 670(d). The polarimetric obser vations indicate that, along with the inverse correlation between the degre e of linear polarization and brightness, the polarization parameters vary o n characteristic time scales of 4000 and 1000 days. This suggests the exist ence of large-scale inhomogeneities in the circumstellar dust disk rotating about the star. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".