Reanalysis of the Radii of the Benchmark Eclipsing Binary V578 Mon

TL;DR

This paper reanalyzes the radii of the massive eclipsing binary V578 Mon, correcting previous discrepancies caused by an incorrect formulation, thereby providing more accurate benchmark data for stellar evolution models.

Contribution

The study identifies and corrects errors in previous radius measurements of V578 Mon, improving the accuracy of this key stellar benchmark.

Findings

Corrected stellar radii for V578 Mon

Discrepancies due to earlier potential formulation errors

Enhanced data for stellar evolution modeling

Abstract

V578 Mon is an eclipsing binary system in which both stars have masses above 10 Msun determined with an accuracy better than 3%. It is one of only five such massive eclipsing binaries known that also possess eccentric orbits and measured apsidal motions, thus making it an important benchmark for theoretical stellar evolution models. However, recently reported determinations of the radii of V578 Mon differ significantly from previously reported values. We reanalyze the published data for V578 Mon and trace the discrepancy to the use of an incorrect formulation for the stellar potentials in the most recent analysis. Here we report corrected radii for this important benchmark eclipsing binary.