Science with Small Observatory Instruments

Extract

Good science can be done with small instruments. Very productive research in the area of short period interacting binary systems has been conducted by the authors with PMT’s and small CCD cameras attached to 0.28 m to 0.9-m instruments. A summary of important results over the past fourteen years is presented along with current work on the interesting semidetached and contact solar type systems TY UMa, V523 Cas, CN And, VZ Psc and BE Cep. Light curve asymmetries in CN And, BE Cep and possibly others indicate the presence of gas streams. This may signal that they are undergoing evolution into contact, an important but rarely observed stage in binary star evolution. Period studies are presented for each of the systems, documenting interesting orbital histories. V523 Cas and TY UMa display large period changes giving evidence of a light time effect due to a third body. This research has been largely supported at the local level and by small research grants from the American Astronomical Society.