BSN: The First Photometric Analysis of Contact Binary Systems V1961 Cyg and V0890 Lyr

TL;DR

This paper presents the first photometric analysis of the contact binary systems V1961 Cyg and V0890 Lyr, providing new ephemerides, system parameters, and insights into their classification as W-type contact binaries.

Contribution

It introduces the first detailed photometric analysis of these systems, including light curve solutions, new ephemerides, and a novel relationship between mass ratio and luminosity ratio.

Findings

V1961 Cyg and V0890 Lyr are W-type contact binaries.

A new method based on light curve derivative agrees with traditional mass ratio results.

Identified starspot activity on V1961 Cyg's hotter component.

Abstract

We presented the first photometric analysis of the V1961 Cyg and V0890 Lyr binary systems. We observed and analyzed these systems at an observatory in France as part of the Binary Systems of South and North (BSN) Project. We extracted and collected the times of minima from the observations and literature and presented a new ephemeris for each system. Due to the few observations about these systems over the years, both O-C diagrams were fitted linearly. The PHysics Of Eclipsing BinariEs (PHOEBE) Python code and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method were used to light curve solutions. The light curve solution required a cold starspot on the hotter component in the V1961 Cyg binary system. We compared and have close agreements between our mass ratios' results from the light curve analysis processes and a new method based on the light curve derivative. We estimated the absolute parameters using an empirical relationship between the semi-major axis and orbital period for contact binary systems. The results show V1961 Cyg and V0890 Lyr are W-type contact binary systems. We displayed stars and systems' positions in the M-L, M-R, and logM_{tot}-logJ_0 diagrams. We also presented a new relationship between mass ratio and luminosity ratio.