• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.60-60
• /
• 2018

It has been known that XZ CMi is a near-contact binary composed of a hotter and more massive main-sequence primary star close to its Roche-lobe and a Roche-lobe filling giant/subgiant secondary star. There still exist, however, many discordant matters among the previous investigators: diverse mass ratios and temperatures ranging from 0.38 to 0.83 and from 7,000 K to 8,876 K, respectively. In order to make a contribution to the two confusions we conducted spectroscopic and photometric observations. A total of 34 high-resolution spectra were obtained during 4 nights from 2010 and 2018 with the Bohyunsan Optical Echelle Spectrograph (BOES) at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO). In parallel, BVRI multi-band photometric observations were carried out 5 nights in 2010 at Sobaeksan Optical Astronomy Observatory (SOAO). In this presentation, we present physical parameters of XZ CMi through the simultaneous analyses of new double-lined radial velocity curves and new light curves. We will also briefly discuss the evolutionary status of the system.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.141-156
• /
• 2009

Through the photometric observations of the near-contact binary, XZ CMi, new BV light curves were secured and seven times of minimum light were determined. An intensive period study with all published timings, including ours, confirms that the period of XZ CMi has varied in a cyclic period variation superposed on a secular period decrease over last 70 years. Assuming the cyclic change of period to occur by a light-time effect due to a third-body, the light-time orbit with a semi-amplitude of 0.0056d, a period of 29y and an eccentricity of 0.71 was calculated. The observed secular period decrease of $-5.26{\times}10^{-11}d/P$ was interpreted as a result of simultaneous occurrence of both a period decrease of $-8.20{\times}10^{-11}d/P$ by angular momentum loss (AML) due to a magnetic braking stellar wind and a period increase of $2.94{\times}10^{-11}d/P$ by a mass transfer from the less massive secondary to the primary components in the system. In this line the decreasing rate of period due to AML is about 3 times larger than the increasing one by a mass transfer in their absolute values. The latter implies a mass transfer of $\dot{M}_s=3.21{\times}10^{-8}M_{\odot}y^{-1}$ from the less massive secondary to the primary. The BV light curves with the latest Wilson-Devinney binary code were analyzed for two separate models of 8200K and 7000K as the photospheric temperature of the primary component. Both models confirm that XZ CMi is truly a near-contact binary with a less massive secondary completely filling Roche lobe and a primary inside the inner Roche lobe and there is a third-light corresponding to about 15-17% of the total system light. However, the third-light source can not be the same as the third-body suggested from the period study. At the present, however, we can not determine which one between two models is better fitted to the observations because of a negligible difference of $\sum(O-C)^2$ between them. The diversity of mass ratios, with which previous investigators were in disagreement, still remains to be one of unsolved problems in XZ CMi system. Spectroscopic observations for a radial velocity curve and high-resolution spectra as well as a high-precision photometry are needed to resolve some of remaining problems.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.64.1-64.1
• /
• 2019

The first high-resolution spectroscopic and new multiband photometric observations of the semi-detached Algol type binary XZ CMi were performed at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO) and the Sobaeksan Optical Astronomy Observatory (SOAO), respectively. A total of 34 spectra were obtained using the 1.8 m reflector of the BOAO equipped with the Bohyunsan Optical Echelle Spectrograph to construct the radial velocity (RV) curves of the eclipsing pair. New BVRI photometric light curves were also covered by using the SOAO 61cm reflector and a CCD camera. A detailed analysis of all eclipse timings shows that the orbital period of XZ CMi has varied in an upward parabolic variation superposed on a sinusoidal oscillation with a period of 38.0 yr and a semi-amplitude of 0.0071 days. From the spectral analysis, the effective temperature and the projected rotational velocity of the primary component were determined to be T_eff,1 = 7387±161 K and v₁sini = 122±6 km s^-1, respectively. Our simultaneous synthesis of the double-lined RV and BVRI light curves gives the reliable system parameters of XZ CMi with a mass ratio (q) of 0.314, an orbital inclination (i) of 81.9 deg and a large temperature difference (∆T) of 2481 K. The individual masses and radii of both components are M₁ = 1.91±0.08M_⊙, M₂ = 0.60±0.02M_⊙, R₁ = 1.60±0.02R_⊙, R₂ = 1.13±0.02R_⊙, respectively. Although the primary component is located inside the δ Sct and γ Dor instability strips, no evidence of pulsation in the system was detected. The possible evolutionary status of XZ CMi is discussed.