| Abstract: | A period study of the young binary AR Aur based on the extensive series of published photoelectric/ccd minima times indicates the cyclic (O – C) variation for the system. This continuous oscillatory variation covers almost three cycles, about 6000 orbital periods, by the present observational data. It can be attributed to the light‐time effect due to a third body with a period of 23.68 ± 0.17 years in the system. The analysis yields a light‐time semi‐amplitude of 0.0084 ± 0.0002 day and an orbital eccentricity of 0.20 ± 0.04. Adopting the total mass of AR Aur, the mass of the third body assumed in the co‐planar orbit with the binary is M3 = 0.54 ± 0.03 M⊙ and the semimajor axis of its orbit is a3 = 13.0 + 0.2 AU. (© 2003 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |
