WZ Cygni: a Marginal Contact Binary in a Triple System?

TL;DR

This study presents new multiband photometry and period analysis of WZ Cyg, revealing it as a marginal contact binary in a triple system with ongoing mass transfer and a tertiary companion, contributing to understanding of binary evolution.

Contribution

It provides detailed photometric and period analysis of WZ Cyg, identifying its marginal contact status and the presence of a tertiary companion, which are novel insights into its evolutionary stage.

Findings

WZ Cyg is a marginal contact binary with poor thermal contact.

The orbital period shows a continuous increase and a sinusoidal variation.

A low-mass tertiary companion likely causes the observed light-travel-time effect.

Abstract

We present new multiband CCD photometry for WZ Cyg made on 22 nights in two observing seasons of 2007 and 2008. Our light-curve synthesis indicates that the system is in poor thermal contact with a fill-out factor of 4.8% and a temperature difference of 1447 K. Including our 40 timing measurements, a total of 371 times of minimum light spanning more than 112 yr were used for a period study. Detailed analysis of the $O$--$C$ diagram showed that the orbital period has varied by a combination with an upward parabola and a sinusoid. The upward parabola means the continuous period increase and indicates that some stellar masses are thermally transferred from the less to the more massive primary star at a rate of about 5.80$\times10^{-8}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. The sinusoidal variation with a period of 47.9 yr and a semi-amplitude of 0.008 d can be interpreted most likely as the light-travel-time effect due to the existence of a low-mass M-type tertiary companion with a projected mass of $M_3 \sin i_3$=0.26 M$_\odot$. We examined the evolutionary status of WZ Cyg from the absolute dimensions of the eclipsing pair. It belongs to the marginal contact binary systems before broken-contact phase, consisting of a massive primary star with spectral type of F4 and a secondary with the type K1.