W Ursae Majoris variable
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A W Ursae Majoris variable, also known as a low mass contact binary, is a type of eclipsing binary variable star. These stars are close binaries of spectral types F, G, or K that share a common envelope of material and are thus in contact with one another. They are termed
contact binaries In astronomy, a contact binary is a binary star system whose component stars are so close that they touch each other or have merged to share their gaseous envelopes. A binary system whose stars share an envelope may also be called an overcontac ...
because the two stars touch and transfer mass and energy through the connecting neck, although astronomer Robert E. Wilson argues that the term "overcontact" is more appropriate. The class is divided into two subclasses: A-type and W-type. A-type W UMa binaries are composed of two stars both hotter than the Sun, having spectral types A or F, and periods of 0.4 to 0.8 day. The W-types have cooler spectral types of G or K and shorter periods of 0.22 to 0.4 day. The difference between the surface temperatures of the components is less than several hundred kelvins. A new subclass was introduced in 1978: B-type. The B-types have larger surface temperature difference. In 2004 the H (high mass ratio) systems were discovered by Szilárd Csizmadia and Peter Klagyivik. The H-types have a higher mass ratio than q=0.72 (q = (secondary's mass)/(primary's mass)) and they have extra angular momentum. These stars were first shown to follow a period-color relation (shorter period systems are redder) by
Olin J. Eggen Olin Jeuck Eggen (July 9, 1919 – October 2, 1998) was an American astronomer. Biography Olin Jeuck Eggen was born to Olin Eggen and Bertha Clare Jeuck in the village of Orfordville in Rock County, Wisconsin. Both of his parents were of Norw ...
. In 2012,
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, Gross and
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published a color-survey of 606 W UMa systems in the Johnson-Cousins photometric system. Their light curves differ from those of classical eclipsing binaries, undergoing a constant ellipsoidal variation rather than discrete
eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
s. This is because the stars are gravitationally distorted by one another, and thus the projected area of the stars is constantly changing. The depths of the brightness
minima In mathematical analysis, the maxima and minima (the respective plurals of maximum and minimum) of a function, known collectively as extrema (the plural of extremum), are the largest and smallest value of the function, either within a given ran ...
are usually equal because both stars have nearly equal surface temperatures.
W Ursae Majoris W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) is the variable star designation for a binary star system in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. It has an apparent visual magnitude of about 7.9, which is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. However, i ...
is the prototype of this class.


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