We performed the first light curve analysis of GW Leo and a new ephemeris is obtained for QT Boo. In the present photometric study of two contact binary systems, we found that the period of these binary systems is decreasing at a rate of dp/dt=-6.21*10^(-3) days yr^(-1) for GW Leo, and dp/dt=-4.72*10^(-3) days yr^(-1) for QT Boo, respectively. The light curve investigation also yields that the system GW Leo is a contact W UMa eclipsing binary with a photometric mass ratio of q=0.881+-0.030, a fillout factor of f=3%, and an inclination of 54.060+-0.066 deg. Due to the O'Connell effect which is known as asymmetries in the light curves' maxima, a cold spot is employed along with the solution. We also calculate the distance of GW Leo from the distance modulus formula as 465.58+-23 pc, which is relatively close to the quantity measured by the Gaia DR2 using the binary systems' parallax. Moreover, the positions of their components on the H-R diagram are represented.
BSN: Light Curve Modeling and Orbital Period Analysis of the Contact Binaries OV Leo and V339 Leo
Physics Society of Iran（伊朗物理学会）；LUX, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, PSL（巴黎天文台）；Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM（墨西哥国立自治大学天文学研究所）；Double Stars Committee, Société Astronomique de France（法国天文学会双星委员会）
We present multi-color CCD photometry of the neglected contact binary XZ Leo. Completely covered VRI band light curves and four times of minimum light were obtained. Combining the photometric and previously published radial velocity data, a revised photometric analysis was carried out for the binary system by applying the Wilson-Devinney code. With a hot spot placed on the massive primary component near the neck region of the common envelope, the light curves were satisfactorily modeled. The photometric solution combined with the radial velocity solution reveals that XZ Leo is an A-type contac…
WY Per and RW Leo are two Algol-type binaries. Based on our new CCD observations and the almost century-long historical record of the times of primary eclipse for WY Per and RW Leo, the orbital period changes and their explanations were reanalyzed and rediscussed in detail. It is found that the orbital period of WY Per shows a cyclic oscillation with a period of $P_{3} = 71.5$ yr and a semiamplitude of $A_{3} = 0^{\textrm{d}}.0739$. The period variation can be interpreted by the light-travel time effect (LTTE) via the presence of a third body in an eccentric orbit with an eccentricity of $e_{3…
Orbital period and multi-color light curves' investigation of OW Leo are presented for the first time. The orbital period of OW Leo is corrected from $P = 0.325545$ days to $P = 0.32554052$ days in our work, and the observational data from the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) are used to test the newly determined orbital period. Then, the phased light curves are calculated with the new period and the Wilson-Devinney program is applied to model the light curves, which reveal that OW Leo is a W-subtype shallow contact binary system ($q = 3.05$, $f = 12.8\,\%$). The absolute phys…
Photometric and spectroscopic variability of the blue supergiant rho Leo
Tartu Observatory, University of Tartu（塔尔图大学塔尔图天文台）；Centro Multidisciplinario de Física, Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Universidad Mayor（主教授大学跨学科物理中心与科研副校长办公室）；Instituto de Estadística, Universidad de Valparaiso（瓦尔帕莱索大学统计研究所）；Graduate School of Science, Art and Technology, Khazar University（哈扎尔大学科学技术研究生院）；Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de São Paulo（圣保罗联邦大学物理系）；Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata, CCT La Plata, CONICET-UNLP（拉普拉塔天体物理研究所，拉普拉塔综合技术中心，阿根廷国家科学研究委员会-拉普拉塔国立大学）；Division of Physics of stellar atmospheres and magnetism, Shamakhy Astrophysical Observatory（沙马基天文台恒星大气与磁物理学部）
New CCD photometric observations of UZ Leo were obtained between February 2012 and April 2013, and on February 2017. Its physical properties were derived from detailed analyses of our light curves and existing radial velocities. The results indicate that this system is a totally-eclipsing A-subtype overcontact binary with both a high fill-out factor of 76 \% and a third light source contributing 12 \% light in the $B$ bandpass, 10 \% in $V$, and 7 \% in $R$. The light residuals between observations and theoretical models are satisfactorily fitted by adopting a magnetic cool spot on the more ma…
New high-quality CCD photometric light curves for the W UMa-type systems V410 Aur, CK Boo, FP Boo, V921 Her, ET Leo, XZ Leo, V839 Oph, V2357 Oph, AQ Psc and VY Sex are presented. The new multicolor light curves, combined with the spectroscopic data recently obtained at David Dunlap Observatory, are analyzed with the Wilson-Devinney code to yield the physical parameters (masses, radii and luminosities) of the components. Our models for all ten systems resulted in a contact configuration. Four binaries (V921 Her, XZ Leo, V2357 Oph and VY Sex) have low, while two (V410 Aur and CK Boo) have high f…
A decade of radial-velocity monitoring of rho Leo: moment analysis and periodic variability
Tartu Observatory, University of Tartu（塔尔图大学塔尔图天文台）；Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences（奥地利科学院空间研究所）；Institute for Theoretical and Computation Physics, Graz University of Technology（格拉茨工业大学理论与计算物理研究所）
We present BVR light curves of pulsating stars, ST Boo and RR Leo, obtained between March and September 2007 at the Ankara University Observatory (AUG) and the TÜB{İ}TAK National Observatory (TUG). Although these observational data are insufficient to obtain the reliable results for a frequency analysis of ST Boo and RR Leo stars, in this study, we tried to investigate the pulsation phenomena of these two stars, as an overview, using the Period04 software package. As preliminary results, we present the possible frequencies for ST Boo and RR Leo.
We present the first observations of extragalactic pulsating stars in the K2 ecliptic survey of the Kepler space telescope. Variability of all three RR Lyrae stars in the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Leo IV were successfully detected, at a brightness of Kp~21.5 mag, from data collected during Campaign 1. We identified one modulated star and another likely Blazhko candidate with periods of 29.8+-0.9 d and more than 80 d, respectively. EPIC 210282473 represents the first star beyond the Magellanic Clouds for which the Blazhko period and cycle-to-cycle variations in the modulation were unambiguously m…
We present the first V, B-V color-magnitude diagram of the Leo IV dwarf spheroidal galaxy, a faint Milky Way satellite recently discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have obtained B,V time-series photometry reaching about half a magnitude below the Leo IV turnoff, which we detect at V= 24.7 mag, and have performed the first study of the variable star population. We have identified three RR Lyrae stars (all fundamental-mode pulsators, RRab) and one SX Phoenicis variable in the galaxy. In the period-amplitude diagram the Leo IV RR Lyrae stars are located close to the loci of Oosterhoff …
The Binary-Binary Hierarchical System XY Leo: A Laboratory for Stellar Activity and Concealed Companions
Institute of Astronomy, The Observatories（天文研究所，天文台）；Ege University（埃ege大学）；Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Faculty of Science, Ege University（埃ege大学理学院天文学与空间科学系）
Observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at 46 GHz (7 mm) have been used to measure the size and shape of the radio photospheres of four long-period variable stars: R Leonis (R Leo), IRC+10216 (CW Leo), chi Cygni (chi Cyg), and W Hydrae (W Hya). The shapes of the stars range from nearly round to ellipticities of ~0.15. Comparisons with observations taken several years earlier show that the photospheric parameters (mean diameter, shape, and/or flux density) of each of the stars have changed over time. Evidence for brightness asymmetries and non-uniformities across the radio surface…
Time-tag ultraviolet data obtained on the Hubble Space Telescope in 2013 reveal interesting variability related to the white dwarf spin in the two cataclysmic variables RZ Leo and CC Scl. RZ Leo shows a period at 220s and its harmonic at 110s, thus identifying it as a likely Intermediate Polar (IP). The spin signal is not visible in a short single night of ground based data in 2016, but the shorter exposures in that dataset indicate a possible partial eclipse. The much larger UV amplitude of the spin signal in the known IP CC Scl allows the spin of 389s, previously only seen at outburst, to be…
The new discovered short-period close binary star, XY LMi, was monitored photometrically since 2006. It is shown that the light curves are typical EW-type and show complete eclipses with an eclipse duration of about 80 minutes. By analyzing the complete B, V, R, and I light curves with the 2003 version of the W-D code, photometric solutions were determined. It is discovered that XY LMi is a high fill-out, extreme mass ratio overcontact binary system with a mass ratio of q=0.148 and a fill-out factor of f=74.1%, suggesting that it is on the late evolutionary stage of late-type tidal-locked bina…
We present continuous, high-precision photometric monitoring data with 1 minute cadence of the dM3e flare star AD Leo with the {\it MOST} satellite. We observed 19 flares in 5.8 days, and find a flare frequency distribution that is similar to previous studies. The light curve reveals a sinusoidal modulation with period of $2.23^{+0.36}_{-0.27}$ days that we attribute to the rotation of a stellar spot rotating into and out of view. We see no correlation between the occurrence of flares and rotational phase, indicating that there may be many spots distributed at different longitudes, or possibly…
Context: A challenge with radial-velocity (RV) data is disentangling the origin of signals either due to a planetary companion or to stellar activity. In fact, the existence of a planetary companion has been proposed, as well as contested, around the relatively bright, nearby M3.0V star AD Leo at the same period as the stellar rotation of 2.23d. Aims: We further investigate the nature of this signal. We introduce new CARMENES optical and near-IR RV data and an analysis in combination with archival data taken by HIRES and HARPS, along with more recent data from HARPS-N, GIANO-B, and HPF. Also, …
In this paper, we present the first light curve synthesis and orbital period change analysis of nine contact binaries around the short period limit. It is found that all these systems are W-subtype contact binaries. One of them is a medium contact system while the others are shallow contact ones. Four of them manifest obvious O'Connell effect explained by a dark spot or hot spot on one of the component stars. Third light was detected in three systems. By investigating orbital period variations, we found that four of the targets display a secular period decrease while the others exhibit a long-…
This work describes the analysis of 64 early-type, massive contact or near-contact eclipsing systems from the Large Magellanic Cloud discovered by the OGLE-III survey. It presents the determination of the period-luminosity-colour relation followed by these objects, that is different from the one previously known for late-type W UMa stars. The relation for massive stars has a significantly steeper dependence on the colour, which is related to a much higher bolometric correction, however it is shallower in the period term. This leads to the conclusion, that the relation for the total population …
AD Leonis is a nearby magnetically active M dwarf. We find Doppler variability with a period of 2.23 days as well as photometric signals: (1) a short period signal which is similar to the radial velocity signal albeit with considerable variability; and (2) a long term activity cycle of 4070$\pm$120 days. We examine the short-term photometric signal in the available ASAS and MOST photometry and find that the signal is not consistently present and varies considerably as a function of time. This signal undergoes a phase change of roughly 0.8 rad when considering the first and second halves of the…
The only well-studied red nova progenitor (V1309 Sco) was a contact binary with a 1.4-day period. The prospects for searching for similar systems, as well as stellar merger candidates in general, are explored in this work. The photospheric temperatures of 128 variables with periods P = 1.1 - 1.8 d classified as W UMa-type binaries are calculated using their colors listed in the SDSS catalog. A selection of 15 contact binaries with similar temperatures and periods as the V1309 Sco progenitor is thus compiled. The Kepler Eclipsing Binary Catalog is used to analyse systems with eclipse timing var…
The period distribution of contact binaries exhibits a very sharp short period cut-off at 0.22 days. In order to provide valuable information on this short period limit, we observed ten totally eclipsing contact binaries with orbital periods near this cut-off. By detailed analysis using W-D code, we determined that two of these systems are A-subtype contact binaries while the others are W-subtype contact binaries and all the targets show shallow contact configurations. Half of the targets exhibit stellar spot activity and four of them have third light. A statistical work on well studied USPCBs…
Ultra-short orbital period contact binaries (Porb < 0.26 d) host some of the smallest and least massive stars. These systems are faint and rare, and it is believed that they have reached a contact configuration after several Gyrs of evolution via angular momentum loss, mass transfer and mass loss through stellar wind processes. This study is conducted in the frame of Contact Binaries Towards Merging (CoBiToM) Project and presents the results from light curve and orbital analysis of 30 ultra-short orbital period contact binaries, with the aim to investigate the possibility of them being red nov…
The stability of mass transfer is important in the formation of contact binaries from detached binaries when the primaries of the initially detached binaries fill their Roche lobes. Using Eggleton's stellar evolution code, we investigate the formation and the short-period limit of contact binaries by considering the effect of the instability of mass transfer. It is found that with decreasing initial primary mass from 0.89M$_{\rm \odot}$ to 0.63M$_{\rm \odot}$, the range of the initial mass ratio decreases for detached binaries that experience stable mass transfer and evolve into contact. If th…
Planets orbiting post-common envelope binaries provide fundamental information on planet formation and evolution, especially for the yet nearly unexplored class of circumbinary planets. We searched for such planets in \odp, an eclipsing short-period binary, which shows long-term eclipse-time variations. Using published, reanalysed, and new mid-eclipse times of the white dwarf in DP\,Leo, obtained between 1979 and 2010, we find agreement with the light-travel-time effect produced by a third body in an elliptical orbit. In particular, the measured binary period in 2009/2010 and the implied radia…
In this paper, CCD photometric light curves for the short-period eclipsing binary 1SWASP J140533.33+114639.1 (hereafter J1405) in the $BVR$ bands are presented and analyzed using the 2013 version of the Wilson-Devinney (W-D) code. It is discovered that the J1405 is a W-subtype shallow contact binary with a contact degree of $f$ = 7.9$\pm$ 0.5\% and a mass ratio of $q$ = 1.55 $\pm$ 0.02. In order to explain the asymmetric light curves of the system, a cool star-spot on the more massive component was employed. This shallow contact eclipsing binary may be formed from a short-period detached syste…
Extremely Low Mass Ratio Contact Binaries. II. The First Photometric and Spectroscopic Investigations of Six Systems with Orbital Periods Longer than 0.5 days
The first charge-coupled device photometric light curves in B, V, R${_c}$, and I${_c}$ bands of the short-period contact binary star OQ Cam are presented. Through analyzing the light curves with the Wilson-Devinney code, it is found that OQ Cam is a W-type shallow contact binary star with a contact degree of f =20.2%. Based on the O-C analyzing, the orbit period displays a long term increasing with a rate of $dP/dt=4.40\times10{^{-7}} day \cdot year{^{-1}}$. The increasing in orbit period can be interpreted by mass transfer from the less massive component to the more massive one. As the orbit …
The two objects 1SWASP J150822.80-054236.9 and 1SWASP J160156.04+202821.6 were initially detected from their SuperWASP archived light curves as candidate eclipsing binaries with periods close to the short-period cut-off of the orbital period distribution of main sequence binaries, at ~0.2 d. Here, using INT spectroscopic data, we confirm them as double-lined spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries, in contact configuration. Following modelling of their visual light curves and radial velocity curves, we determine their component and system parameters to precisions between ~2 and 11%. The former sy…
W UMa-type contact binaries belong to close binary systems whose components exactly overflow their Roche lobes and share a common convective envelope (CCE). In the last twenty years, the long-term variations of their orbital periods have been thought to depend on several mechanisms. Now, we suggest a new mechanism: CCE-dominated mechanism. The CCE-dominated mechanism is found based on our numerical result, especially at high mass ratios, that the orbital periods (P) of contact binaries change very much with their fill-out factors (f). Because f is taken as a measurement of the thickness of CCE…
There are 15 cataclysmic variables (CVs) observed in the first two campaigns of the K2 mission. In this paper, the eight CVs showing distinct features are analyzed in detail. Among these eight, modulations during quiescence are evident at the known orbital periods in the SU UMa stars QZ Vir and RZ Leo, and at our newly determined orbital periods of 1RXS J0632+2536 and WD 1144+011. The periodogram analysis for the quiescent light curve of QZ Vir reveals multi-period modulations and the coexistence of orbital and superhump periods. The phased orbital light curves for the other 3 CVs in quiescenc…
Optical Flares Detected on a Contact Binary: The First Photometric and Spectroscopic Analysis of a Long-period Low Mass Ratio Contact Binary HAT 307-0007476
The evolution of contact binary star systems in mass asymmetry (transfer) coordinate is considered. The orbital period changes is explained by an evolution in mass asymmetry towards the symmetry (symmetrization of binary system). It is predicted that a decreasing and an increasing orbital periods are related, respectively, with the non-overlapping and overlapping stage of the binary star during its symmetrization. A huge amount of energy $ΔU\approx 10^{41}$ J is converted from the potential energy into internal energy of the stars during the symmetrization. As shown, the merger of stars in the…
We present the photometric analysis of three ultra-short period total eclipsing binaries in contact configuration, CRTS_J172718.0+431624, OGLE-BLG-ECL-000104, and OGLE-BLG-ECL-000012, mined from massive astronomical surveys. Using the available archival light curves (LCs) from Vista Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV), Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in different passbands and new multi-band photometric observations with the 2.3 m Aristarchos telescope at Helmos Observatory, their relative physical parameters were der…
We obtained complete $R$ and $I$ light curves of GSC 02393-00680 in 2008 and analyzed them with the 2003 version of the W-D code. It is shown that GSC 02393-00680 is a W-type shallow contact binary system with a high mass ratio $q=1.600$ and a degree of contact factor $f=5.0%(\pm1.3%)$. It will be a good example to check up on the TRO theory. A period investigation based on all available data suggests that the system has a small-amplitude period oscillation ($A_3=0.^{d}0030$; $T_3=1.92$years). This may indicate it has a moderate mass close third body, which is similar to XY Leo.
This study aims at timing the eclipses of the binary star TU UMi. The times of minima are taken from the literature, from our observations in April 2004 and from TESS observations between 2019 and 2022. The orbital period analysis of the system indicates that there is a cyclic oscillation with an amplitude of 0.0081d and a period of 9.03 yr, accompanied by a continuous decrease at a rate of $dP/dt =-1.12 \times 10^{-7}\,\mathrm{d}\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. We study the secular evolution of the orbital period of the system and the possibility of the existence of a third companion or the magnetic act…
Near-IR and optical radial velocities of the active M dwarf star Gl 388 (AD Leo) with SPIRou at CFHT and SOPHIE at OHP: A 2.23 day rotation period and no evidence for a corotating planet
In this work, we aimed to derive the $gri$-band period-luminosity (PL) and period-luminosity-color (PLC) relations for late-type contact binaries, for the first time, located in the globular clusters, using the homogeneous light curves collected by the Zwicky Transient Factory (ZTF). We started with 79 contact binaries in 15 globular clusters, and retained 30 contact binaries in 10 globular clusters that have adequate number of data points in the ZTF light curves and unaffected by blending. Magnitudes at mean and maximum light of these contact binaries were determined using a fourth-order Four…
Photometric observations for the totally eclipsing binary system TYC 4002-2628-1, were obtained between November 2020 and November 2021. To determine the stellar atmospheric parameters, a spectral image was taken with the 2.16 m telescope at National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC). TYC 4002-2628-1 is a low-amplitude (about 0.15 mag for $V$ band), short-period (0.3670495 d), contact eclipsing binary with a total secondary eclipse. Intrinsic light curve variations and the reversal of the O'Connell effect are detected in the light curves, which may be due to spot activity. Based on the …
Zwicky Transient Facility and Globular Clusters: the gr-Band Period-Luminosity Relations for Mira Variables at Maximum Light and Their Applications to Local Galaxies
