Thursday, August 19, 2021

PMAK V106: a New Bright Eclipsing Binary with Deep and Short Minimum

Looking through the TESS QLP data, I've found another bright eclipsing binary with a rather deep primary minimum that, I think, can be observed even visually (with the aid of a small telescope). It is BD+47 3904 star of the Lacerta constellation, it is registered in the AAVSO's International Variable Star Index as PMAK V106 (https://www.aavso.org/vsx/index.php?view=detail.top&oid=2224389)



In the maximum, the star has a visual magnitude of 9.4, the primary minimum reaches a magnitude of 10.1, the period is 3.17082 d and the duration of the primary eclipse is 3.8 h hours.

Here is a phase plot of the star:


 

Components of the system obviously have different colors (temperature): there is a noticeable difference in depths of eclipses in V (and clear) filters compared to the TESS passband.

The star also shows a rotational variability with a period of 3.1308 d, an amplitude of about 0.03 TESS, see https://www.aavso.org/vsx/index.php?view=detail.top&oid=2224389 for details.

Thanks to Sebastian Otero for his advice and helpful criticism.