YET ANOTHER SPECTRO-INTERFEROMETRIC STUDY OF THE GAS DISTRIBUTION IN THE ENIGMATIC SEMI-DETACHED BINARY β LYRAE.

The majority of close binaries undergo episodes of mass transfer between their components, which completely change their further evolution. Simulations and observations agree that the mass transfer has two phases: i) short and rapid one, and ii) long and slow one. The bulk of the mass is likely exchanged during the rapid phase, but due to its shortness, systems undergoing this phase are rare, but they hold the key to understanding of the process. One system that is either undergoing the rapid mass transfer phase or is in a transient phase between the two phases is β Lyrae. Our goal is to map the distribution of circumstellar gas in the system. To achieve it, a series of spectro-interferometric observations acquired with the optical instrument VEGA/CHARA are investigated. Here we present our tools and preliminary results of our analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]