Astrophysics An orbital period investigation of the Algol-type eclipsing binary

Abstract Orbital period variations of the Algol-type eclipsing binary, VW Hydrae, are analyzed based on one newly determined eclipse time and the other times of light minima collected from the literature. It is discovered that the orbital period shows a continuous increase at a rate of dP/dt = +6.34×10−7 d yr−1 while it undergoes a cyclic change with an amplitude of 0.0639 d and a period of 51.5 yr. After the long-term period increase and the large-amplitude period oscillation were subtracted from the O-C curve, the residuals of the photoelectric and CCD data indicate a small-amplitude cyclic variation with a period of 8.75 yr and a small amplitude of 0.0048 d. The continuous period increase indicates a conservative mass transfer at a rate of dM2/dt = 7.89 × 10−8M ⊙ yr−1 from the secondary to the primary. The period increase may be caused by a combination of the mass transfer from the secondary to the primary and the angular momentum transfer from the binary system to the circumbinary disk. The two cyclic period oscillations can be explained by light-travel time effects via the presence of additional bodies. The small-amplitude periodic change indicates the existence of a less massive component with mass M3> 0.53M⊙, while the large-amplitude one is caused by the presence of a mor