HIGH FILL-OUT, EXTREME MASS RATIO OVERCONTACT BINARY SYSTEMS. VIII. EM PISCIUM

CCD photometric observations of the newly discovered close binary, EM Piscium, obtained from 2006 December 4 to 2008 January 7, are presented. The light curves are symmetric and show complete eclipses with an eclipse duration of 54 minutes. When comparing the present light curves with those published by González-Rojas et al., it is found that the depths of the two minima of the light curve have been interchanged, and the positive O'Connell effect has disappeared. The symmetric light curves in R and I bands were analyzed with the 2003 version of the W–D code. It is found that EM Piscium is a high fill-out overcontact binary system (f = 95.3 ± 2.7%) with an extreme mass ratio of q = 0.1487, suggesting that it is on the late evolutionary stage of late-type tidal-locked binaries. Based on the nine instances of light minimum that we determined and those published by previous investigators, it is discovered that the orbital period shows a cyclic period variation with a period of 3.3 years, while it undergoes a continuously rapid increase at a rate of dP/dt = +3.97 × 10−6 days year−1. The cyclic period reveals the presence of a tertiary companion, which may play an important role for the formation and evolution of the overcontact binary by drawing angular momentum from the central system via Kozai oscillation or a combination of Kozai cycle and tidal friction. The high fill-out, the extreme mass ratio, and the rapid period increase may suggest that the binary system is quickly evolving into a rapid-rotating single star.

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