Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T21:38:41.978Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Eclipsing Binaries in the LMC: a Wealth of Data for Astrophysical Tests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2007

A. Derekas
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia email: derekas@physics.usyd.edu.au
L. L. Kiss
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia email: derekas@physics.usyd.edu.au
T. R. Bedding
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia email: derekas@physics.usyd.edu.au
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We have analysed publicly available MACHO observations of 6833 variable stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, classified as eclipsing binaries. After finding that a significant fraction of the sample was misclassified, we redetermined periods and variability class for all stars, producing a clean sample of 3031 eclipsing binaries. We have investigated their distribution in the period-color-luminosity space, which was used, for example, to assign a foreground probability to every object and establish new period-luminosity relations to selected types of eclipsing stars. We found that the orbital period distribution of LMC binaries is very similar to those of the SMC and the Milky Way. We have also determined the rate of period change for every star using the O-C method, discovering about 40 eclipsing binaries with apsidal motion, 45 systems with cyclic period changes and about 80 stars with parabolic O-C diagrams. In a few objects we discovered gradual amplitude variation, which can be explained by changes in the orbital inclination caused by a perturbing third body in the system.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007

References

Castellani, V. et al. . 2003, A&A, 404, 645 Google Scholar
Derekas, A. et al. ., 2006, ApJL, in press (astro-ph/0608618)Google Scholar
Michalska, G. & Pigulski, A., 2005, A&A, 434, 89 Google Scholar
Pojmański, G., 2002, Acta Astron., 52, 397 Google Scholar
Szabados, L. & Kurtz, D.W., (Eds.), 2000, ASP Conf. Series, Vol. 203Google Scholar
Wood, P.R., Olivier, E.A., & Kawaler, S.D., 2004, ApJ, 604, 800 Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

derekas2

Symposium poster

Download derekas2(PDF)
PDF 2.1 MB