Time-series spectroscopy of the pulsating eclipsing binary XX Cephei

TL;DR

This study characterizes the pulsating eclipsing binary XX Cep using high-resolution spectroscopy and photometry, revealing detailed stellar parameters, the secondary star's detection, and its classification as an oEA star with a delta Sct pulsator.

Contribution

First detailed spectroscopic and photometric analysis of XX Cep, including detection of the secondary star and precise measurement of stellar parameters, advancing understanding of oEA systems.

Findings

Detected the secondary star's absorption lines for the first time.

Determined the primary star's effective temperature as 7946 K.

Classified XX Cep as an oEA star with a delta Sct pulsator.

Abstract

Oscillating Algol-type eclipsing binaries (oEA) are very interesting objects that have three observational features of eclipse, pulsation, and mass transfer. Direct measurement of their masses and radii from the double-lined radial velocity data and photometric light curves would be the most essential for understanding their evolutionary process and for performing the asteroseismological study. We present the physical properties of the oEA star XX Cep from high-resolution time-series spectroscopic data. The effective temperature of the primary star was determined to be 7,946 $\pm$ 240 K by comparing the observed spectra and the Kurucz models. We detected the absorption lines of the secondary star, which had never been detected in previous studies, and obtained the radial velocities for both components. With the published $BVRI$ light curves, we determined the absolute parameters for the binary via Wilson-Devinney modeling. The masses and radii are $M_{1} = 2.49 \pm 0.06$ $M_\odot$, $M_{2} = 0.38 \pm 0.01$ $M_\odot$, $R_{1} = 2.27 \pm 0.02$ $R_\odot$, and $R_{2} = 2.43 \pm 0.02$ $R_\odot$, respectively. The primary star is about $45 \%$ more massive and $60 \%$ larger than the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) stars with the same effective temperature. It is probably because XX Cep has experienced a very different evolutionary process due to mass transfer, contrasting with the normal main sequence stars. The primary star is located inside the theoretical instability strip of $\delta$ Sct-type stars on HR diagram. We demonstrated that XX Cep is an oEA star, consisting of a $\delta$ Sct-type pulsating primary component and an evolved secondary companion.