A PHOTOELECTRIC INVESTIGATION OF THE ECLIPSING BINARY SV-TAURI

SV Tauri is an Algol-type eclipsing binary with P = 2.d1669 and V = 9.m7 at maximum light. The primary minimum is 1.m1 deep, the secondary minimum 0.m1, and the eclipses are partial. Despite the fact that this star was discovered to be variable in 1908, no photoelectric observations were obtained for this system until the 1980's. Photoelectric UBV observations were obtained between 1981 and 1988 with the 0.4 m telescope No. 4 at KPNO and with the 1.0 m reflector of the USNO Flagstaff Station. The light curves were analyzed using both the WINK method and the SIMPLEX algorithm. SV Tauri proves to be a typical semidetached Algol-type system with the secondary component filling its Roche lobe. Earlier analyses, based on visual and photographic observations, indicated orbital eccentricity, but the observations and analyses in this study show that the orbit is circular. The spectral classes of the components are B9 V and G5 IV. The values derived for r1, r2, and the mass ratio (q) are 0.29, 0.27, and 0.28, respectively.