V606 Cen: A Newly Formed Massive Contact Binary in a Hierarchical Triple System

V606 Centauri (V606 Cen) is an early B-type close binary with an orbital period of 1.4950935 days, and its complete light curves are very difficult to observe on the ground. By analyzing the continuous light curve obtained by TESS, we found that it is a marginal contact binary with a very low fill-out factor of about 2%. The O − C diagram of V606 Cen is constructed for the first time based on 118.8 yr of eclipse times. The O − C diagram has been found to show a downward parabolic change together with a cyclic oscillation with a semiamplitude of 0.0545 days and a period of 88.3 yr. The downward parabolic variation reveals a linear period decrease at a rate of dP/dt = −2.08 × 10−7 days yr−1 that can be explained by the mass transfer from the more massive component to the less massive one. Both the marginal contact configuration and the continuous period decrease suggest that V606 Cen is a newly formed contact binary via Case A mass transfer. The cyclic change in the O − C diagram can be explained by the light-travel time effect via the presence of a third body. The lowest mass of the tertiary companion is determined to be M 3 = 4.51 (±0.43) M ⊙ and the tertiary is orbiting around the central eclipsing binary in a nearly circular orbit (e = 0.33). All of the results indicate that V606 Cen is a newly formed massive contact binary in a hierarchical triple system.

The first photometric analysis of two low mass ratio totally eclipsing contact binaries: TIC 393943031 and TIC 89428764

PhotometricanalysisofthecontactbinariesTIC393943031andTIC89428764was carried out usingTESS and SuperWASP data for the first time. Using Wilson-Devinneycode, we have discovered TIC 393943031 is a low-mass-ratio deep contact binary with a fillout factor of 50.9(±1)% and a mass ratio of q = 0.163 ± 0.001. TIC 89428764 is a medium and low-mass-ratio contact binary with a fillout factor of 34.5(±1)% and a mass ratio of q = 0.147±0.001. Furthermore, the period study reveals both the stars exhibit continuously increasing periods, the increasing rate is 4.21×10−7day ·year−1for TIC 393943031while 6.36 × 10−7day · year−1for TIC 89428764. The possible reason is mass transfer from the secondary component to the primary component for both the stars. Meanwhile, we discussed their evolutionary phases and orbital angular momenta.

CSS J075415.6+191052 and NW Leo: two contact binaries at different evolutionary stages

Multi-color light curves of CSS J075415.6+191052 and NW Leo are presented and the photometric solutions suggest that CSS J075415.6+191052 is a low mass ratio (q=0.178) and slightly deep contact binary (f=34.9%), while NW Leo with high mass ratio (q=0.707) and shallow degree of contact (f=2.3%). For CSS J075415.6+191052, the RI light curves show weakening around the left shoulder of secondary minimum, which indicates that there may be a dark spot on the secondary component. However, the light curves of BV bands are totally symmetric. It is unreasonable if the dark spot is caused by magnetic activity or mass transfers between two components. Therefore, the weakening of the light curves in this contact binary is caused by something else. A possible explanation is mass transferring from primary component to common convective envelope through the inner Lagrangian point, and this part of the mass, for some reason, weakens RI bands of light from secondary component. O - C analysis of NW Leo reveals a cyclic period change with a modulation period of 4.7 years, which may be caused by the light travel time effect of a third body. The positions of CSS J075415.6+191052 and NW Leo in P - J_{orb}' diagram suggest that the former is more evolved, which is in agreement with their photometric solutions. In the current stage, CSS J075415.6+191052 is dominated by the angular momentum loss theory, but NW Leo mainly follow the thermal relaxation oscillation theory.

Fragmenting Active Asteroid 331P/Gibbs

We describe active asteroid 331P/Gibbs (2012 F5) using archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data taken between 2015 and 2018. 331P is an outer main belt active asteroid with a long-lived debris trail that formed in 2011. Embedded in the debris trail we identify 19 fragments with radii between 0.04 and 0.11 km (albedo 0.05 assumed) containing about 1% of the mass of the primary nucleus. The largest shows a photometric range (∼1.5 mag), a V-shaped minimum, and a two-peaked lightcurve period near 9 hr, consistent with a symmetric contact binary. Less convincing explanations are that 331P-A is a monolithic, elongated splinter or that its surface shows hemispheric 4:1 albedo variations. The debris trail is composed of centimeter-sized and larger particles ejected with characteristic 10 cm s−1 speeds following a size distribution with index q = 3.7 ± 0.1 to 4.1 ± 0.2. The HST data show that earlier, ground-based measurements of the nucleus were contaminated by near-nucleus debris, which cleared by 2015. We find that the primary nucleus has effective radius 0.8 ± 0.1 km and is in rapid rotation (3.26 ± 0.01 hr), with a lightcurve range of 0.25 mag and a minimum density of 1600 kg m−3 if strengthless. The properties of 331P are consistent with (1) formation about 1.5 Myr ago by impact shattering of a precursor body, (2) spin-up by radiation torques to critical rotation, (3) ejection of about 1% of the nucleus mass in mid 2011 by rotational instability, and (4) subsequent evolution of the fragments and dispersal of the debris by radiation pressure.

Two Contact Binaries with Mass Ratios Close to the Minimum Mass Ratio

The cutoff mass ratio is under debate for contact binaries. In this paper, we present the investigation of two contact binaries with mass ratios close to the low mass ratio limit. It is found that the mass ratios of VSX J082700.8+462850 (hereafter J082700) and 1SWASP J132829.37+555246.1 (hereafter J132829) are both less than 0.1 (q ∼ 0.055 for J082700 and q ∼ 0.089 for J132829). J082700 is a shallow contact binary with a contact degree of ∼19%, and J132829 is a deep contact system with a fill-out factor of ∼70%. The O − C diagram analysis indicated that the two systems manifested long-term period decreases. In addition, J082700 exhibits a cyclic modulation which is more likely resulting from the Applegate mechanism. In order to explore the properties of extremely low mass ratio contact binaries (ELMRCBs), we carried out a statistical analysis on contact binaries with mass ratios of q ≲ 0.1 and discovered that the values of J spin/J orb of three systems are greater than 1/3. Two possible explanations can interpret this phenomenon. One explanation is that some physical processes, unknown to date, are not considered when Hut presented the dynamic stability criterion. The other explanation is that the dimensionless gyration radius (k) should be smaller than the value we used (k 2 = 0.06). We also found that the formation of ELMRCBs possibly has two channels. The study of evolutionary states of ELMRCBs reveals that their evolutionary states are similar with those of normal W UMa contact binaries.

Studies on the equatorial spot of G-type contact binary UV Lyn

New CCD photometric observations of G-type contact binary UV Lyn were obtained in 2006 and 2020, when the light curves (LCs) show positive O'Connell effect and negative O'Connell effect, especially. From the previous studies, the LCs by other ground-based telescope are variable from 1973 to 2020, particularly the magnitude difference between the two maxima. These phenomena indicate that the component is active in the past 47 years. In addition, under the monitoring of the space telescope of Transiting Exoplant Survey Satellite (TESS) from January to March in 2020, we fortunately find the continuous variations of O'Connell effect in every circle for the first time. The analysis also shows that in a short time, the positive O'Connell effect has been transformed into the negative one, which proves that there are stronger magnetic activities on the surface of the component. By using the Wilson-Devinney code with a spot model, these photometric solutions confirm UV Lyn is a shallow W-subtype contact binary with a cool equatorial spot on the less massive component. The successive variability of O'Connell effect possibly result from one equatorial cool spot shifting gradually along with time. We also investigate its \emph{O-C} curve from these continuous LCs, there is not obvious variation in such short time. while, the O’Connell effect as the indicator of the magnetic activity are possibly undergoing a periodic trend of a period of nearly 38 days. Comparing \emph{O-C} curve, we could find there is not relation between the period variation and magnetic activity.

Detection of the YORP Effect on the contact-binary (68346) 2001 KZ66 from combined radar and optical observations

The YORP effect is a small thermal-radiation torque experienced by small asteroids, and is considered to be crucial in their physical and dynamical evolution. It is important to understand this effect by providing measurements of YORP for a range of asteroid types to facilitate the development of a theoretical framework. We are conducting a long-term observational study on a selection of near-Earth asteroids to support this. We focus here on (68346) 2001 KZ66, for which we obtained both optical and radar observations spanning a decade. This allowed us to perform a comprehensive analysis of the asteroid’s rotational evolution. Furthermore, radar observations from the Arecibo Observatory enabled us to generate a detailed shape model. We determined that (68346) is a retrograde rotator with its pole near the southern ecliptic pole, within a 15○ radius of longitude 170○ and latitude −85○. By combining our radar-derived shape model with the optical light curves we developed a refined solution to fit all available data, which required a YORP strength of $(8.43\pm 0.69)\times 10^{-8} \rm ~rad ~day^{-2}$. (68346) has a distinct bifurcated shape comprising a large ellipsoidal component joined by a sharp neckline to a smaller non-ellipsoidal component. This object likely formed from either the gentle merging of a binary system, or from the deformation of a rubble pile due to YORP spin-up. The shape exists in a stable configuration close to its minimum in topographic variation, where regolith is unlikely to migrate from areas of higher potential.