Discovery of the strongly eccentric, short-period binary nature of the B-type system HD 313926 by the MOST satellite

Abstract

Abstract The MOST photometric space mission discovered an eclipsing binary among its guide stars in 2006 June which combines a relatively large eccentricity e= 0.20 with an orbital period of only 2.27 d. HD 313926 appears to consist of two early-type stars of spectral type B3–B7. It has the largest eccentricity among known early-type binaries with periods less than 3.5 d. Despite the large components indicated by its spectral type and light curve model, and its short period, the orbit of HD 313926 has not yet circularized so it is probably very young, even compared with other young B stars.