The first photometric investigation of the contact binary OQ Cam

TL;DR

This study presents the first CCD photometric analysis of the contact binary OQ Cam, revealing its shallow contact nature, period increase, and potential evolutionary path supporting thermal relaxation oscillation theory.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed photometric light curves and analysis of OQ Cam, identifying it as a shallow contact binary with evolving orbital characteristics.

Findings

OQ Cam is a W-type shallow contact binary with 20.2% contact degree.

The orbital period is increasing at a rate of 4.40×10^{-7} day/year.

OQ Cam may evolve from contact to non-contact stage, supporting thermal relaxation oscillation theory.

Abstract

The first charge-coupled device photometric light curves in B, V, R${_c}$, and I${_c}$ bands of the short-period contact binary star OQ Cam are presented. Through analyzing the light curves with the Wilson-Devinney code, it is found that OQ Cam is a W-type shallow contact binary star with a contact degree of f =20.2%. Based on the O-C analyzing, the orbit period displays a long term increasing with a rate of $dP/dt=4.40\times10{^{-7}} day \cdot year{^{-1}}$. The increasing in orbit period can be interpreted by mass transfer from the less massive component to the more massive one. As the orbit period increasing, OQ Cam would evolve from the present shallow contact configuration to a none contact stage. So it may be a potential candidate to confirm the thermal relaxation oscillation theory.