On the effect of emission lines on UBVR photometry

We investigate the effect on the U, B, V, RC and RJ magnitudes of the removal of emission lines from a spectrum. We determined Δm corrections from the ratio of fluxes with and without emission lines, transmitted from the object through a photometric filter. An exact and simplified approach for operative use was applied. The effect was demonstrated for classical symbiotic stars, symbiotic novae and the classical nova V1974 Cyg. It was found that about 20-30%, 30-40%, 10% and 26/20% of the observed flux in the U, B, V and RC/RJ filters, respectively, are radiated in the emission lines of the investigated classical symbiotic stars. The largest effect was found for symbiotic novae (RR Tel and V1016 Cyg) and the classical nova V1974 Cyg at 210 days (an average of 74%, 79%, 56% and 66/60%), because of their very strong emission line spectrum. In all cases, the line corrected flux points fit the theoretical continuum well. The difference between Δm corrections obtained by the accurate calculation and that given by our approximate formula is less than 10%. Deviations up to 30% can exist only in the U passband. Examples for practical applications are suggested.