RW Persei

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RW Persei
RWPerLightCurve.png
A visual band light curve for RW Persei, adapted from Olson et al. (1992) [1]
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0       Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Perseus
Right ascension 04h 20m 16.764s [2]
Declination +42° 18′ 51.81″ [2]
Apparent magnitude  (V)9.68
min1: 11.36
min2: 9.78 [3]
Characteristics
Spectral type B9.6e + K2III-IV [4] [5]
Variable type Semi-detached Algol variable [1]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)5.8±2.7 [6]  km/s
Proper motion (μ)RA: −3.965  mas/yr [2]
Dec.: −5.345  mas/yr [2]
Parallax (π)2.163 ± 0.0343  mas [2]
Distance 1,510 ± 20  ly
(462 ± 7  pc)
Absolute magnitude  (MV)+0.4/+1.6 [7]
Orbit
Period (P)13.198949 d [8]
Eccentricity (e)0.00 [9]
Inclination (i)81.56 [7] °
Periastron epoch (T)2,416,032.0070  JD [9]
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)		18.5 [9] km/s
Semi-amplitude (K2)
(secondary)		6.5 [9] km/s
Details [7]
Primary
Mass 2.56  M☉
Radius 2.8  R☉
Luminosity 62  L☉
Temperature 9,700  K
Secondary
Mass 0.38  M☉
Radius 7.3  R☉
Luminosity33  L☉
Temperature 4,200  K
Other designations
BE Cet, BD+41°851, HD  276247, HIP  20245 [10]

RW Persei is a eclipsing binary [4] star system in the northern constellation of Perseus. It has a peak apparent visual magnitude of 9.68, [3] so this system is too faint to be viewed with the naked eye. During the primary eclipse the brightness decreases to magnitude 11.36, but only to magnitude 9.78 with the secondary eclipse. The distance to RW Persei is approximately 1,510  light years, based on parallax measurements. [2] It is receding from the Sun with a radial velocity of 5.8±2.7 km/s. [6]

The variability of this star was discovered by Sigurd Enebo, for which he received the 1906 Lindemann Award from the Astronomische Gesellschaft. He classified it as an Algol variable and found a period of 13.196 days. Enebo refined the period to 13.1989 days in 1910. [11] The low brightness and relatively long period of this system meant that it received little study for many decades. [5] In 1945, O. Struve found emission lines, but (except for the H-alpha emission lines) only during an eclipse. It has a deep primary eclipse with only a minor secondary eclipse. He interpreted the emission as a nebulous stream moving with the eclipsed star. [9]

D. S. Hall noted a rapid decrease in the duration of the primary eclipse in 1967, becoming a partial eclipse. [12] Observations made in 1974 suggested a possible period change in the eclipse cycle. [13] In 1986, J. J. Dobias and M. J. Plavec determined the primary component to be a Be star with an optically thick accretion disk in orbit. [5] The secondary is an ordinary K2 giant star. [14] Subsequent observations in 1988 and 1989 failed to confirm this disk, although they did show that the primary component must be spinning at 30 times the rate of synchronous rotation. [15]

In 1991, the eclipse amplitude was found to have changed multiple times, declining from a magnitude difference of 3.20 in 1900 down to 1.75 in blue light. This is the second system shown to undergo such large adjustments in eclipse amplitude after IU Aurigae. The changes suggested a wobble in the orbital plane caused by an orbiting third body in the system. Alterations in the O–C diagram supported this interpretation, giving an orbital period of 68 years for the third body. [14] However, a photometric study in 1992 failed to confirm the presence of a third body in the system. Instead, it was proposed that changes in the polar radius of the primary, brought on by accretion and slowed rotation, may explain the variations. [1]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">RY Persei</span> Star in the constellation Perseus

RY Persei is a variable star in the northern constellation of Perseus, abbreviated RY Per. It is an Algol variable with a period of 6.8635663 days, which indicates this is an eclipsing binary star system with an orbital plane oriented close to the line of sight from the Earth. The system has a maximum apparent visual magnitude of 8.50, which drops down to magnitude 10.25 during the eclipse of the primary component, then to 8.65 with the secondary eclipse. Based on parallax measurements, this system is located at a distance of approximately 2,960 light years from the Sun, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −12 km/s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RT Persei</span> Star system in the constellation Perseus

RT Persei is a variable star system in the northern constellation of Perseus, abbreviated RT Per. It is an eclipsing binary system with an orbital period of 0.84940032 d (20.386 h). At peak brightness the system has an apparent visual magnitude of 10.46, which is too faint to be viewed with the naked eye. During the eclipse of the primary this decreases to magnitude 11.74, then to magnitude 10.67 with the secondary eclipse. The distance to this system is approximately 628 light years based on parallax measurements. It is drifting closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of about −12 km/s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Olson, Edward C.; et al. (January 1992), "A New Investigation of Photometric Changes in RW Persei", Astronomical Journal, 103: 256, Bibcode:1992AJ....103..256O, doi:10.1086/116058.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv: 2208.00211 . Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243940 . S2CID   244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  3. 1 2 Samus, N. N.; et al. (2017), "General Catalogue of Variable Stars", Astronomy Reports , 5.1, 61 (1): 80–88, Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S, doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085, S2CID   125853869.
  4. 1 2 Avvakumova, E. A.; et al. (October 2013), "Eclipsing variables: Catalogue and classification", Astronomische Nachrichten, 334 (8): 860, Bibcode:2013AN....334..860A, doi:10.1002/asna.201311942, hdl: 10995/27061 .
  5. 1 2 3 Dobias, Jan J.; Plavec, Mirek J. (March 1987), "Flux distribution in the Algol binary system RW Persei", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 99: 159–172, Bibcode:1987PASP...99..159D, doi:10.1086/131972.
  6. 1 2 Gontcharov, G. A. (2006), "Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system", Astronomy Letters, 32 (11): 759–771, arXiv: 1606.08053 , Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G, doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065, S2CID   119231169.
  7. 1 2 3 Wilson, R. E.; Plavec, Mirek J. (June 1988), "RW Persei and the Disk Hypothesis", Astronomical Journal, 95: 1828, Bibcode:1988AJ.....95.1828W, doi: 10.1086/114779 .
  8. ↑ Kreiner, J. M. (June 2004), "Up-to-Date Linear Elements of Eclipsing Binaries", Acta Astronomica, 54: 207–210, Bibcode:2004AcA....54..207K.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Struve, Otto (July 1945), "Spectrographic Observations of Thirteen Eclipsing Variables", Astrophysical Journal, 102: 74, Bibcode:1945ApJ...102...74S, doi:10.1086/144740.
  10. ↑ "RW Per", SIMBAD , Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg , retrieved 2023-11-16.
  11. ↑ Pettersen, Bjørn Ragnval (November 2012), "Sigurd Enebo and Variable Star Research: Nova Geminorum 1912 and the RV Tauri Stars", Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 15 (3): 246–254, Bibcode:2012JAHH...15..246P.
  12. ↑ Hall, Douglas S. (1968), "A Gross Secular Expansion of the Primary in RW Persei", Astronomical Journal, 73: 181, Bibcode:1968AJS....73Q.181H.
  13. ↑ Baldwin, B. W. (July 1974), "A Suspected Period Increase in the Eclipsing Binary RW Per", Information Bulletin on Variable Stars, 910: 1, Bibcode:1974IBVS..910....1B.
  14. 1 2 Schaefer, Bradley E.; Fried, Robert E. (January 1991), "RW Per: Nodal Motion Changes its Amplitude by 1.4 Mag", Astronomical Journal, 101: 208, Bibcode:1991AJ....101..208S, doi: 10.1086/115680 .
  15. ↑ Olson, Edward C. (February 1989), "Photometry of Long-Period Algols. V. Multicolor Solutions for RW Persei", Astronomical Journal, 97: 505, Bibcode:1989AJ.....97..505O, doi:10.1086/115000.

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