QU Car: a very high luminosity nova-like binary with a carbon-enriched companion

QU Car is listed in cataclysmic variable star catalogues as a nova-like variable. This little-studied, yet bright interacting binary is re-appraised here in the light of new high-quality ultraviolet (UV) interstellar line data obtained with STIS on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The detection of a component of interstellar absorption at a mean LSR velocity of $-$14 km s$^{-1}$ indicates that the distance to QU Car may be $\sim$2 kpc or more -- a considerable increase on the previous lower-limiting distance of 500 pc. If so, the bolometric luminosity of QU Car could exceed $10^{37}$ ergs s$^{-1}$. This would place this binary in the luminosity domain occupied by known compact-binary supersoft X-ray sources. Even at a 500 pc, QU Car appears to be the most luminous nova-like variable known. New intermediate dispersion optical spectroscopy of QU Car spanning 3800--7000 \AA is presented. These data yield the discovery that C{\sc iv} $\lambda\lambda$5801,12 is present as an unusually prominent emission line in an otherwise low-contrast line spectrum. Using measurements of this and other lines in a recombination line analysis, it is shown that the C/He abundance as proxied by the n(C$^{4+}$)/n(He$^{2+}$) ratio may be as high as 0.06 (an order of magnitude higher than the solar ratio). Furthermore, the C/O abundance ratio is estimated to be greater than 1. These findings suggest that the companion in QU Car is a carbon star. If so, it would be the first example of a carbon star in such a binary. An early-type R star best matches the required abundance pattern and could escape detection at optical wavelengths provided the distance to QU Car is $\sim$2 kpc or more.