Some Bright and Deep Eclipsing Binaries

Here are the four brightest eclipsing binaries north of declination -30°, in order of brightness:

Menkalinan Algol Mintaka Alphecca
Beta Aurigae Beta Persei Delta Orionis Alpha Coronae Borealis
5h 59m 32s 3h 08m 10s 5h 32m 00s 15h 34m 41s
+44° 56′ 51″ +40° 57′ 20″ -00° 17′ 57″ +26° 42′ 53″
1.89 – 1.98 2.12 – 3.39 2.14 – 2.26 2.21 – 2.32
0.09m  3.96d 1.27m  2.87d 0.12m  5.73d 0.11m  17.36d

The first line is the proper name of the star.
The second line is the Bayer designation.
The third line is right ascension (epoch 2000.0).
The fourth line is the declination (epoch 2000.0).
The fifth line is the range of visual magnitude.
The sixth line is the Δm and period in days.

Honorable mention: two eclipsing binaries, one along the Vela/Carina border and visible only from latitudes south of 35° N; the other experiences an eclipse almost as deep as Algol.

δ Vel Sheliak
Delta Velorum Beta Lyrae
8h 44m 42s 18h 50m 05s
-54° 42′ 32″ +33° 21′ 46″
1.96 – 2.36 3.25 – 4.36
0.40m 45.15d 1.11m 12.94d

And, here are four reasonably bright eclipsing binaries with deep eclipses, north of declination -30°:

V Sge
AC UMa
SY Cyg
UW Vir
V Sagittae AC Ursae Majoris SY Cygni UW Virginis
20h 20m 15s 8h 55m 54s 19h 46m 34s 13h 15m 21s
+21° 06′ 10″ +64° 58′ 14″ +32° 42′ 18″ -17° 28′ 17″
8.60 – 13.90 10.30 – 14.00 10.70 – 14.20 9.00 – 12.40
5.30m 0.51d 3.70m 6.85d 3.50m 6.01d 3.40m 1.81d

Some eclipsing binaries have very long periods between minima.  Epsilon Aurigae (27.1 years), Zeta Aurigae (2.7 years), and Zeta Tauri (132.97 days) are examples.

References
Catalogue of eclipsing variables. Version 2 (Avvakumova+, 2013)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *