2003A&A...397..951L

We present detailed photometric investigations of the recurrent nova CI Aql. New data obtained after the 2000 outburst are used to derive a 3D geometrical model of the system. The resulting light curves clearly indicate the existence of an asymmetric spray around the accretion disk, as claimed in the past e.g. for the super-soft X-ray source CAL87 in the LMC. The simulated light curves give us the mass transfer rates varying from {dot}(M)≃2.5x10^–8M_☉/yr in 1991-1996 to 5.5x10^–8<{dot}(M)<1.5x10^–7M_☉/yr in 2001/2002. The distance and the interstellar foreground extinction resulting from the model are 1.55kpc and E_B–V=0.98mag respectively. During fast photometry sequences in 2002 short timescale variations (t_F≃13min) of the mass loss are found. Moreover a change in the orbital period of the system is detectable and results in a mass loss of 2.2x10^–6<ΔM<5.7x10^–6M_☉ during the nova explosion.