Classical Pulsators in Eclipsing Binary Systems

We present a summary on a big advance in studies of classical pulsating stars in eclipsing binary systems. A discussion of properties of 6 Cepheids in 5 eclipsing binary systems is presented. The determination of precise and accurate stellar parameters for these Cepheids is very important for several fields of astrophysics. An update on a long term project on Galactic binary Cepheids has been presented at this conference by Gallenne et al. Soon, the interferometric orbits will be combined with radial velocities, and the orbital elements and masses for the studied Cepheids will be derived. We also discuss the discovery of a new class of pulsating stars formed through mass exchange in binary systems. Such an evolutionary channel can produce stars which are very difficult to distinguish from classical pulsators. Recent studies on a candidate Type II Cepheid in eclipsing binary systems showed that this star is also a product of stellar evolution in binary systems. We can expect a few percent contamination from this class of pulsating stars in the catalogs of classical pulsators like Cepheids, RR Lyrae, etc. Finally we highlight new, good candidates for RR Lyrae stars in binary systems. The dynamical mass (and other parameters too) determination for an RR Lyrae star has been awaited for a long time.