Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 April 2012
We can show that analysis of the (O-C) diagram is a powerful method of detecting new bodies in binary systems. For this purpose we need very symmetric minima with precisely determined shapes. In the case of good covering by observations with high time resolution, it is possible to determine the times of such minima with sufficient accuracy. In the case of V471 Tau, the (O-C) diagram gave us residua which can be explained by the presence of a fourth body with substellar mass in the system.