Search

VW LMi is the tightest known quadruple system with 2 + 2 hierarchy. It consists of a W UMa-type eclipsing binary (P 12 = 0.477 55 d) and another detached non-eclipsing binary (P 34 = 7.93 d) orbiting around a common centre of mass in about P 1234 = 355 d. We present new observations of the system extending the time baseline to study long-term perturbations in the system and to improve orbital elements. The multidataset modelling of the system (four radial-velocity curves for the components and the timing data) clearly showed an apsidal motion in the non-eclipsing binary at a rate of 4.6 deg yr−1, but no other perturbations. This is consistent with the nearly co-planarity of the outer, 355-d orbit, and the 7.93-d orbit of the non-eclipsing binary. Extensive N -body simulations enabled us to constrain the mutual inclination of the non-eclipsing binary and the outer orbits to j 34–1234 < 10 deg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the discovery of a unique object, a chemically peculiar Ap-type star showing δ Scuti pulsations that is bound in an eclipsing binary system with an orbital period shorter than 3 d. HD 99458 is therefore a complex astrophysical laboratory opening doors for studying various, often contradictory, physical phenomena at the same time. It is the first Ap star ever discovered in an eclipsing binary. The orbital period of 2.722 d is the second shortest among all known chemically peculiar (CP2) binary stars. Pulsations of δ Scuti type are also extremely rare among CP2 stars and no unambiguously proven candidate has been reported. HD 99458 was formerly thought to be a star hosting an exoplanet, but we definitely reject this hypothesis using photometric observations from the K2 mission and new radial velocity measurements. The companion is a low-mass red dwarf star (M 2 = 0.45(2) M⊙) on an inclined orbit (i  = 73.2(6) deg) that shows only grazing eclipses. The rotation and orbital periods are synchronized, while the rotation and orbital axes are misaligned. HD 99458 is an interesting system deserving of more intense investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report results of the first five observing campaigns for the open stellar cluster NGC 7243 in the frame of project Young Exoplanet Transit Initiative (YETI). The project focuses on the monitoring of young and nearby stellar clusters, with the aim to detect young transiting exoplanets and to study other variability phenomena on time-scales from minutes to years. After five observing campaigns and additional observations during 2013 and 2014, a clear and repeating transit-like signal was detected in the light curve of J221550.6+495611. Furthermore, we detected and analysed 37 new eclipsing binary stars in the studied region. The best fit parameters and light curves of all systems are given. Finally, we detected and analysed 26 new, presumably pulsating variable stars in the studied region. The follow-up investigation of these objects, including spectroscopic measurements of the exoplanet candidate, is currently planned. (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

V471 Tau was discovered as a spectroscopic binary by Wilson (General Catalogue of Stellar Radial Velocities, p. 44, ). It is the prototype of a post-common envelope system and a progenitor of a cataclysmic binary. The system consists of a cool red dwarf, K2 V, very probably a main sequence star and a hot white dwarf. The object was classified as a close binary with an orbital period of around 0.5 days. Moreover, on the light curve are observed light variations with a period of 191 days, which are connected with an ellipsoidal shape of the red dwarf as well as with the migration of spots on the surface of this cool component. The eclipse of the white dwarf in the binary remains 49 minutes and declines to the minimum and the increase from the minimum takes only 55 s. Such photometric behaviour hinders obtaining good eclipses. In this paper we have obtained during four years seven eclipses with high time resolution with all four contacts to reach precise times of minima. Fortunately these times of the minima show a change of trend in the (O-C) diagram, and we were able to decide about the physical processes responsible for the behaviour of the (O-C) diagram. We showed that this behaviour is caused by a third body in the system with an orbital period of 33.2 years, and its physical and geometrical parameters are presented. For an inclination larger than 35° we get the mass of this body below the stable hydrogen-burning limit and thus most probably the candidate would be a brown dwarf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]