Photometric and Spectroscopic Properties of the Eclipsing System V864 Monocerotis

TL;DR

This study investigates the orbital period variability and physical properties of the W UMa-type binary V864 Mon, revealing a continuous period increase, mass transfer, and detailed stellar parameters through photometric and spectroscopic analysis.

Contribution

First high-resolution spectroscopic observations and detailed analysis of V864 Mon's parameters, including mass transfer rate and evolutionary status, are presented.

Findings

Orbital period is increasing at 2.62×10^{-7} days per year.

Mass transfer occurs from the less massive primary to the secondary.

Secondary star is on the main sequence, primary is beyond the TAMS.

Abstract

We present the orbital period variability and evolutionary status of the W UMa-type binary system V864 Mon from accurately measured fundamental parameters. New $BV$ photometric observations of this system were performed in 2019 January and 2022 January, and the first high-resolution spectroscopic observations were carried out on three nights between 2019 January and March. A total of 29 times of minimum light were collected to examine the behavior of the orbital period. Our analysis of these timings indicates a continuous period increase at a rate of $+$2.62$\times$10$^{-7}$ d yr$^{-1}$ over the past 20 years, which can be interpreted as a mass transfer from the less massive primary to the secondary component with a rate of 1.22$\times$10$^{-7}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. We measured the radial velocities (RVs) for both components, and determined the effective temperature and projected rotational velocity of the more massive secondary star to be $T_{\rm eff,2}$ = 5450 $\pm$ 94 K and $v_2 \sin i$ = 192 $\pm$ 40 km s$^{-1}$, respectively, from the comparison of the observed spectrum at the primary minimum and the theoretical models. The individual masses and radii of both components were determined from a simultaneous analysis of the light and RV curves, which are $M_1$ = 0.34 $\pm$ 0.02 M$_\odot$, $R_1$ = 0.69 $\pm$ 0.01 R$_\odot$, and $M_2$ = 1.06 $\pm$ 0.04 M$_\odot$, $R_2$ = 1.16 $\pm$ 0.02 R$_\odot$, respectively. Our results indicate that V864 Mon is a W-subtype of W UMa stars with time-varying spot activity. The positions in the mass-luminosity and mass-radius diagrams indicate that the secondary star belongs to the main sequence region, while the hotter primary is located beyond the terminal-age main sequence.