The massive Wolf-Rayet Binary LSS1964 (=WR29). II. The V light curve

GAMEN, R. C.; FERNANDEZ LAJUS, E.; NIEMELA, V. S.; BARBÁ, R.

ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

Año: 2009 vol. 506 p. 1269 - 1275

0004-6361

WR29 is a known WN7h+O double-lined binary system in a rather short period (3.164 days).We decided to search for light variations which help to determine its inclination and thus the absolute masses of both components.We observed photometrically the field of WR29 during many nights between December, 2002, and February, 2006.We find that the V light of WR29 varies in phase with the spectroscopic period of 3.16412 days presenting two minima corresponding to the conjunctions of the binary components.Numerical models fitted to the light curve indicate an orbital inclination of about 44degr, and masses of 53 M$_odot$ and 42 M$_odot$ for the O- and WN-type components, respectively.