The first photometric investigation of the contact binary OQ Cam

Abstract

The first charge-coupled device photometric light curves in B, V, Rc , and Ic bands of the short-period contact binary star OQ Cam are presented. Through analyzing the light curves with the Wilson-Devinney code, it is found that OQ Cam is a W-type shallow contact binary star with a contact degree of f = 20.2%. Based on the O – C analyzing, the orbit period displays a long term increasing with a rate of dP/dt = 4.40 × 10−7 d yr−1. The increasing in orbit period can be interpreted by mass transfer from the less massive component to the more massive one. As the orbit period increases, OQ Cam would evolve from the present shallow contact configuration to a non-contact stage. So it may be a potential candidate to confirm the thermal relaxation oscillation theory.