CCD Photometry of the W UMa type star QX Andromeda

Abstract

We present new B- and V-band photometry of the W UMa-type binary system QX And, which is a member of the open cluster NGC 752. Revised orbital period and new ephemerides were given for the binary system based on the data of times of light minima. The result of a period analysis reveals that the system is undergoing a continuous orbital period increase during the past decades. The rate of period increasing turns out to be about 2.7 × 10 −7 d yr −1. With the Wilson–Devinney code, a photometric solution is computed. It yields a contact configuration for the system with a filling factor of 0.361. Combining the results from the photometric solution along with that from the radial-velocity observations, we have determined the absolute parameters for the two components of the system. The masses, radii and luminosity of the primary and secondary stars are calculated as 1.43 ± 0.04 M ⊙, 1.45 ± 0.09 R ⊙, 2.87 ± 0.40 L ⊙ and 0.44 ± 0.02 M ⊙, 0.87 ± 0.05 R ⊙, 0.99 ± 0.13 L ⊙, respectively. The evolutionary status and physical nature of the contact binary system were discussed compared with the theoretical models.