BV Observations of the Eclipsing Binary XZ Andromedae at the EKU Observatory (Abstract)

Volume 46 number 1 (2018)

Marco Ciocca

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Eastern Kentucky State University, 521 Lancaster Avenue, New Science Building 3140, Richmond, KY 40475; marco.ciocca@eku.edu

Abstract

(Abstract only) XZ Andromedae is an Algol-type eclipsing binary. It has been the subject of many observing campaigns, all aiming at determining the mechanisms responsible for its period variation. Results have been inconsistent and the period changes did not seem to have a common explanation between authors. The latest of these observations (Y.-G. Yang, New Astronomy, 25, 2013, 109) concluded that a third companion may be present and that mass transfer from the secondary to the primary companion may be occurring. We performed measurements in the Bessel band passes B and V, measured several times of minimum and developed a model, using binary maker 3, that matches well the observations and includes mass transfer by adding a hot spot on the primary (the cool, more evolved companion) and a “cold” spot on the secondary (hotter, but smaller companion). The data were collected at the EKU observatory with a Celestron C14 telescope and a SBIG STL-6303 camera.