Tomasz Nowakowski is a member of the physics.org community.

NSVS 2983201 is a contact binary system, observations find
The chart of sky around NSVS 2983201. The chart has 15' by 15' size, and is oriented North-down, East-right. The FOV of the CCD camera was shifted slightly to the East, so that the primary comparison star wouldn't be so close to the edge of the frame. Credit: Dębski et al., 2022.

A short-period variable star has been observed by Polish astronomer. The object has a mass ratio of 0.36. There was a paper published on the arXiv pre-print repository.

Variable stars offer clues into aspects of stellar structure and evolution. A better understanding of the distance scale of the universe can be achieved by investigating variables.

The variable was initially identified as a variable that experienced total eclipses. It could not be confirmed due to poor light curve coverage and the fact that no numerical modeling analysis of this object was done.

The contact binary hypothesis was confirmed by a team of astronomer led by Bartomiej Dbski. The data from the Apogee Alta U42 camera is the basis for their finding.

The exposure times were 40s, 30s, and 20s. The on-sky Flatframes were collected on the same day as the Bias and Dark frames.

Two methods were used by the team to get fundamental parameters. One of them points to a distance of 4,560 light years, while the other points to a distance of 4, 250 light years. The absolute magnitude was found to be 4.71 and 4.56 mag.

The system's mass ratio allowed the astronomer to calculate the separation and mass of the two parts. The separation was found to be 2.04 or 2.19 solar radii depending on the distance. The mass of the primary and secondary stars were estimated to be 1.03 and 0.37 solar mass if the separation is smaller. The primary star has a mass of 1.27 solar mass, while its companion has 0.46 solar mass.

There is a difference between the height of the brightness maxima and the light curve. An identification of a large circumpolar starspot assumed to be of magnetic origin was made possible thanks to this. This spot is assumed to be the primary star as it has a thicker convective envelope.

There is a study of a contact system. There is a book titled "arxiv.2212.14085."

Journal information: arXiv

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