V505 Cyg: A Mass-transferring Marginal Contact Binary

Abstract

High-precision photometric data of V505 Cyg from TESS and one spectrum observed by us are presented in this work, and the stellar atmospheric parameters of the primary component were derived via spectral fitting. Applying the Wilson–Devinney code, the photometric elements were computed for the first time. The results show V505 Cyg is a near contact binary with the primary filling its Roche Lobe and the secondary a little under-filling, along with the temperature difference of about ΔT = 1900 K between the two components. The eclipse is total and lasts for about 90 minutes, which is about 0.1 phase, so the photometric results are reliable. This system belongs to near-contact binaries with the light curves enhanced around the left shoulder of the secondary minimum, which can be explained by a hot spot on the secondary components due to mass transfer, via a stream from the primary components hitting the facing surface of the secondary components. Meanwhile, we conducted an orbital period investigation of it in detail. The orbital period study based on all times of minimum including 230 new ones determined by us reveals a secular period decreasing at the rate of dP/dt = −2.31 × 10−7 d · yr−1. The decrease of the orbital period can be the result of mass transfer between the components, agreeing well with the configuration and the asymmetric light curves of V505 Cyg. V505 Cyg is therefore another rare example of mass transferring marginal contact binary lying on the rapid evolutionary stage predicted by the Thermal Relaxation Oscillation theory. With the orbital period decrease, V505 Cyg will evolve into an overcontact binary.