Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2013
Statistical information on 8280 individual radio observations of binary stars, predominantly at 8·4 GHz using the Parkes 64 m antenna, is presented. Three main groups are distinguished: (i) RS CVn stars, (ii) classical Algol binaries (EA2s), and (iii) detached pairs of generally early type (ETBs).
The RS CVn stars more frequently gave rise to detectable fluxes, while the ETBs, in these data, are a small and rather heterogeneous class. The Algols' emission appears to increase near conjunction phases, though we cannot clearly distinguish any special property of the Algols' phase-dependent behaviour that is not also shared by the RS CVn binaries. Both these categories' data show a bimodal, phase-dependent pattern to the distribution of detections, suggesting that these binary types share similar underlying physical properties, though there could also be other factors at play. The sample sizes of the Algols and particularly the ETB detections are too small for effective, discriminatory statistics, however.