AL Cassiopeiae: An F-type contact binary system with a cool stellar companion
- Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), P.O. Box 110, 650011 Kunming (China)
- Mt. Suhora Observatory, Cracow Pedagogical University, ul. Podchorazych 2, 30-084 Krakow (Poland)
According to the general catalog of variable stars, AL Cas was classified as an EW-type eclipsing binary with a spectral type of B and an orbital period of P = 0.5005555 days. The first photometric light curves of the close binary in the B, V, R, and I bands are presented. New low-resolution spectra indicate that its spectral type is about F7 rather than B-type. A photometric analysis with the Wilson-Devinney method suggests that it is a contact binary (f = 39.3%) with a mass ratio of 0.61. Using 17 newly determined eclipse times together with those collected from the literature, we found that the observed–calculated (O – C) curve of AL Cas shows a cyclic change with a period of 86.6 yr and an amplitude of 0.0181 days. The periodic variation was analyzed for the light-travel time effect via the presence of a third body. The mass of the third body was determined to be M {sub 3}sin i' = 0.29(± 0.05) M {sub ☉} when a total mass of 2.14 M {sub ☉} for AL Cas is adopted. It is expected that the cool companion star may have played an important role in the origin and evolution of the system by removing angular momentum from the central binary system during early dynamical interaction and/or late dynamical evolution. This causes the original detached system to have a low angular momentum and a short initial orbital period. Then it can evolve into the present contact configuration via a case A mass transfer.
- OSTI ID:
- 22342232
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 148, Issue 5; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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