Orbital periods of the binary sdB stars PG 0940+068 and PG 1247+554

We have used the radial velocity variations of two sdB stars previously reported to be binaries to establish their orbital periods. They are PG 0940+068 ( P =8.33 d) and PG 1247+554 ( P =0.599 d). The minimum masses of the unseen companions, assuming a mass of 0.5 M_⊙ for the sdB stars, are 0.090±0.003 M. for PG 1247+554 and 0.63±0.02 M_⊙ for PG 0940+068. The nature of the companions is not constrained further by our data.     

The reflection effect in eclipsing binary systems

The weakest point in the modern models of eclipsing binary systems (EBS) is the treatment given to the effects of mutual irradiation. In this review, which does not have a similar one in the literature, I tried to collect all the work done on the irradiation problem until the middle of 1984, in order to make possible an evaluation of the present status of problem. Special emphasis is given to the applicability of the results to the analysis of EBS. The treatment given to the effect by the early studies as well as by practically all the modern models of EBS is described, and special attention is given to works analysing the problem using stellar model atmospheres. It turns out that the effect is more complex than suspected earlier, but that significant progress has been made recently.Review article.     

RAT0455+1305: another pulsating hybrid sdB star

RAT0455+1305 was discovered during the Rapid Temporal Survey which aims in finding any variability on timescales of a few minutes to several hours. The star was found to be another sdBV star with one high amplitude mode and relatively long period. These features along with estimation of T _eff and log?g makes this star very similar to Balloon?090100001. Encouraged by prominent results obtained for the latter star we have decided to perform white light photometry on RAT0455+1305. In 2009 we used the 1.5 m telescope located in San Pedro Martir Observatory in Mexico. Fourier analysis confirmed the dominant mode found in the discovery data, uncovered another peak close to the dominant one, and three peaks in the low frequency region. This shows that RAT0455+1305 is another hybrid sdBV star pulsating in both p- and g-modes.     

PKS 1117+146: a new large compact symmetric object

We present 23-GHz MERLIN observations of the high-luminosity radio galaxy PKS 1117+146. The radio image obtained from these data shows, for the first time, a central weak component (designated C) that we identify as the core of the radio galaxy, and two outer components (designated N and S) which are the hotspots of the extended lobes observed at lower frequencies. Extended emission in components C and S is an indication of a possible jet connecting the core to the strongest component. The overall optical and radio properties of PKS 1117+146 are consistent with the source being classified as a compact symmetric object (CSO). We discuss this hypothesis, which would make PKS 1117+146 the largest CSO known so far.     

Anomalous limb darkening in the atmospheres of components of close binary systems with a strong reflection effect

It is shown that in close binary systems of the Algol type, the companions of which are of spectral type K0- K2 and later, there is a temperature inversion in the surface layers of the photosphere and, as a consequence, the angular distribution of the intensity of escaping radiation for individual small areas proves to differ considerably from the limb- darkening law in the spherically symmetrical case. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 115-121, January–March, 2000.     

Two-Micron All-Sky Survey J01542930+0053266: a new eclipsing M dwarf binary system

We report on Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) J01542930+0053266, a faint eclipsing system composed of two M dwarfs. The variability of this system was originally discovered during a pilot study of the 2MASS Calibration Point Source Working Data base. Additional photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey yields an eight-passband light curve from which we derive an orbital period of  2.639 0157 ± 0.000 0016  d. Spectroscopic followup confirms our photometric classification of the system, which is likely composed of M0 and M1 dwarfs. Radial velocity measurements allow us to derive the masses  (M₁= 0.66 ± 0.03 M_⊙; M₂= 0.62 ± 0.03 M_⊙)  and radii  (R₁= 0.64 ± 0.08 R_⊙; R₂= 0.61 ± 0.09 R_⊙)  of the components, which are consistent with empirical mass–radius relationships for low-mass stars in binary systems. We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the light curves which allow us to uncover complicated degeneracies between the system parameters. Both stars show evidence of Hα emission, something not common in early-type M dwarfs. This suggests that binarity may influence the magnetic activity properties of low-mass stars; activity in the binary may persist long after the dynamos in their isolated counterparts have decayed, yielding a new potential foreground of flaring activity for next generation variability surveys.     

The Progenitors of sdB Binaries: Confronting Theory with Observations

We have re-examined the main binary evolution channels that produce sdB stars (by stable and unstable mass transfer, the merging of two helium white dwarfs). We find that all three main channels are of comparable importance, but produce slightly different mass distributions and dominate at different times. We show how the short-period sdB binaries can be used to constrain the efficiency of common-envelope ejection and discuss various observational tests that will allow further testing and constrain the binary evolution parameters that go into binary population synthesis simulations.     

Resolving the pulsations of subdwarf B stars: PG 0154+182, HS 1824+5745 and HS 2151+0857

We continue our programme of extended single-site observations of pulsating subdwarf B (sdB) stars and present the results of extensive time-series photometry to resolve the pulsation spectra for use in asteroseismological analyses. PG 0154+182, HS 1824+5745 and HS2151+0857 were observed at the MDM Observatory during 2004 and 2005. Our observations are sufficient to resolve the pulsations of all three target stars. We extend the number of known frequencies for PG 0154+182 from one to six, confirm that HS 1824+5745 is a monoperiodic pulsator and extend the number of known frequencies to five for HS 2151+0857. We perform standard tests to search for multiplet structure, measure amplitude variations as pertains to stochastic excitation and examine the mode density to constrain the mode degree ℓ.     

EB-type contact binary do cas with a large temperature difference

NewUBV photoelectric observations of EB-type contact binary DO Cas were made on 4 nights from February 1986 to February 1987. The obtained light curves in combination with the radial-velocity curve of the primary published by Mannino (1958) of DO Cas have been solved simultaneously using the Wilson-Devinney synthesis code. The system is found to be a contact binary with a degree of overcontact of 14%. It may be concluded that DO Cas is an evolved contact binary.     

Near-infrared identification of the counterpart to X1908+075: a new OB-supergiant X-ray binary

We report the near-infrared (near-IR) identification of the likely counterpart to X1908+075, a highly absorbed Galactic X-ray source recently suspected to belong to the rare class of OB supergiant–neutron star binary systems. Our JHK_s -band imaging of the field reveals the existence within the X-ray error boxes of a near-IR source consistent with an early-type star lying at   d ∼ 7 kpc  and suffering   A_V ∼ 16 mag  of extinction, the latter value being in good agreement with the hydrogen column density derived from modelling of the X-ray spectrum. Our follow-up, near-IR spectroscopic observations confirm the nature of this candidate and lead to a late O-type supergiant classification, thereby supporting the identification of a new Galactic OB-supergiant X-ray binary.     

The EC 14026 stars – VIII. PG 1336−018: a pulsating sdB star in an HW Vir-type eclipsing binary

The sdB star PG 1336−018 is found to be a very short-period eclipsing binary system, remarkably similar to the previously unique system HW Vir. In addition, and unlike HW Vir, the sdB star in the PG 1336 system shows rapid oscillations of the type found in the recently discovered sdB pulsators, or EC 14026 stars. The orbital period, 0.101 0174 d, is one of the shortest known for a detached binary. Analysis of photoelectric and CCD photometry reveals pulsation periods near 184 and 141 s, with semi-amplitudes of ∼0.01 and ∼0.005 mag respectively. Both oscillations might have variable amplitude, and it is probable that other frequencies are present with amplitudes ∼0.003 mag or less. The 184- and 141-s pulsations are in the range of periods predicted by models for hot horizontal-branch stars. Analysis of medium-dispersion spectrograms yields T _eff=33 000±1000 K and log g =5.7±0.1 for the sdB primary star, a radial velocity semi-amplitude K ₁=78±3 km s⁻¹ and a system velocity γ=6±2 km s⁻¹. Spectrograms from the IUE Final Archive give T _eff=33 000±3000 K and E ( B − V )=0.05 for log g =6.0 models. The derived angular radius leads to a distance of 710±50 pc for the system, and an absolute magnitude for the sdB star of +4.1±0.2. A preliminary analysis of U , V and R light curves indicates the orbital inclination to be near 81° and the relative radii to be r ₁=0.19 and r ₂=0.205. Assuming the mass of the sdB primary to be 0.5 M⊙ leads to a mass ratio q =0.3 for the system, and indicates that the secondary is a late-type dwarf of type ∼M5. As with HW Vir, it is necessary to invoke small limb-darkening coefficients and high albedos for the secondary star to obtain reasonable fits to the observed light curves.     

1SWASP J034439.97+030425.5: a short-period eclipsing binary system with a close-in stellar companion

First multi-wavelength photometric light curves(LCs) of the short-period eclipsing binary(EB)1 SWASP J034439.97+030425.5(hereafter J0344) are presented and analyzed by using the 2013 version of the Wilson-Devinney(W-D) code. To explain the asymmetric LCs of J0344, a cool star-spot on the less massive component was employed. The photometric solutions suggest that J0344 is a W-subtype shallow contact EB with a contact degree of f = 4.9% ± 3.0% and a mass ratio of q = 2.456 ± 0.013. Moreover,an obvious third light was detected in our analysis. We calculated the average luminosity contribution of the third light to the total light, and that value reaches up to 49.78%. Based on the O-C method,the variations of the orbital period were studied for the first time. Our O-C diagram reveals a secular decrease superimposed on a cyclic oscillation. The orbital period decreases at a rate of d P/dt =-6.07 ×10~(-7) d yr~(-1), which can be explained by the mass transfer from the more massive component to the less massive one. Besides, its O-C diagram also shows a cyclic oscillation with an amplitude of 0.0030 d and a period about 7.08 yr, which can be explained by the presence of a third body with a minimum mass of M3 min= 0.15 ± 0.02 M_⊙. The third component may play an important role in the formation and evolution of J0344 by drawing angular momentum from the central system.     

Hill stability of a triple system with an inner binary of large mass ratio

We determine the maximum dimensionless pericentre distance a third body can have to the barycentre of an extreme mass ratio binary, beyond which no exchange or ejection of any of the binary components can occur. We calculate this maximum distance, q '/ a , where q ' is the pericentre of the third mass to the binary barycentre and a is the semimajor axis of the binary, as a function of the critical value of   L ²  E   of the system, where L is the magnitude of the angular momentum vector and E is the total energy of the system. The critical value is obtained by calculating   L ²  E   for the central configuration of the system at the collinear Lagrangian points. In our case we can make approximations for the system when one of the masses is small. We compare the calculated values of the pericentre distance with numerical scattering experiments as a function of the eccentricity of the inner orbit, e , the mutual inclination i and the eccentricity of the outer orbit, e '. These show that the maximum observed value of   q '/ a   is indeed the critical q '/ a , as expected. However, when   e '→1  , the maximum observed value of q '/ a is equal to the critical value calculated when   e '=0  , which is contrary to the theory, which predicts exchange distances several orders of magnitude larger for nearly parabolic orbits. This does not occur because changes in the binding energy of the binary are exponentially small for distant, nearly parabolic encounters.