Photoelectric photometry of the peculiar system RT Lacertae

The observations of the peculiar eclipsing binary RT Lac were continued during the observing seasons of 1982 and 1983. The salient properties of the light curves were presented. The shallowest primary eclipse was observed in 1983. When the light curves, obtained in six years sucessively, are interpreted together it is seen that the variations of the brightness at mid-primary and second maximum are too similar to each other. The colour variations at mid-primary also follow those variations in the brightness. These circumstances indicate that the starspot hypothesis is insufficient alone to explain all the phenomena observed. The earlier spectral type G9 companion may be intrinsically variable and the unusual distortion on the light curves following the secondary eclipse may arise from the gas-stream from larger K star to the G9 star. © 1985 D. Reidel Publishing Company