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S.J. Sanders, A.R. Bradstreet, D.H. Bradstreet (Eastern University), J.R. Hargis (San Diego State University)
New precision V & Rc light curves of the eclipsing binaries IK Per and WY Tau have been obtained using the 41-cm telescope at the Eastern University Observatory equipped with an SBIG ST-10XME CCD. IK Per (P = 0 \fd 6760 days) has only one other published light curve with no light curve analysis (Liying \it{et al.}\rm 2003). The system was observed on 13 nights from 30 Sep - 20 Nov 2003, accumulating 1019 observations in V and 1016 in Rc. IK Per is an A-type overcontact binary that exhibits total eclipses and slightly asymmetric maxima, although the light curve as a whole was quite repeatable over the 7-week observing session. Preliminary analysis indicates that it has a fairly small mass ratio (q = 0.18) and large fillout (f = 0.68).
WY Tau (P = 0 \fd 6928 days) has no photoelectric light curves published although it has several decades of visual timings of minimum light. It was observed on 15 nights from 15 Jan - 19 Feb 2004, accumulating 1574 observations in V and 1533 in Rc. The O-C diagram indicates that the period of the system has probably been constant over the past 70+ years. Although the light curves of WY Tau indicate identical eclipse depths, the system, previously classified as an overcontact binary, is definitely not in contact as evidenced by the morphology of the out of eclipse light variations. There also appears to be more scatter in the data at both maxima than in the bottom of the minima, perhaps indicating the presence of gas streams between the two stars invisible at the eclipses. Seemingly endless models of the system have been attempted in order to reproduce the well-defined but enigmatic light curves using the \it Binary Maker, Wilson-Devinney,\rm and \it ELC \rm codes.
The final results of the analyses of both systems will be presented.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: dbradstr@eastern.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #2
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