Photometry of V578 Monocerotis

Volume 38 number 1 (2010)

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Arnold M. Heiser

Dyer Observatory, Vanderbilt University, Brentwood, TN 37027

Abstract

V578 Monocerotis (= HDE 259135), a member of the galactic cluster NGC 2244, is an eclipsing binary containing two early B-type stars with a period of 2.4048 days. From early photometric observations of V578 Mon obtained by the author, and from data by D. S. Hall's collaborators (Anon. 1995), both the orbital period, noted above, and an apsidal motion period of about 30.4 years was determined. The current study is a summary of all the UBV photometric data obtained by the author from 1962 through the 2005-2006 season. The purposes of this study were to obtain an improved orbital period of this eclipsing binary, to determine a better estimate of the apsidal motion period, and to search for any light curve changes over time.