Distribution and evolution of starspots on the RS CVn binary II Pegasi in 2004

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China through grants Nos. 10373023, 10773027 and 11333006, Chinese Academy of Sciences through project KJCX2-YW-T24.We present Doppler images of RS CVn-type binary II Peg based on two data sets obtained in 2004 February and November. In order to improve signal-to-noise ratio and reliability,we apply least-squares deconvolution technique to calculate average profiles from 2032 photospheric absorption lines. Both of the resulting surface images show a wide latitude distribution of starspots. Most spots are concentrated at a high-latitude belt above 60° and a low-latitude belt near equator. The starspots evolved dramatically between two observing runs, which may indicate shorter time-scale evolution in this epoch, especially for low-latitude belt. There is no stable preferred active longitude that can be found in our images. We also find out a possible phenomenon that the intermediate-latitude spot migrated poleward and merged with the high-latitude spot to make it stronger, which may reveal a more complex behaviour of starspots on II Peg. A potential change of orbital ephemeris zero-point was detected. This may imply an orbital period change of II Peg like other active close binaries.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe