A photometric and spectroscopic study of the eclipsing symbiotic binary AX Persei

Free access article

Issue		A&A Volume 367, Number 1, February III 2001


Page(s)		199 - 210
Section		Formation, structure and evolution of stars
DOI		http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20000413

A&A 367, 199-210 (2001)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20000413

A photometric and spectroscopic study of the eclipsing symbiotic binary AX Persei

A. Skopal¹, M. Teodorani², L. Errico², A. A. Vittone², Y. Ikeda³ and S. Tamura³

¹ Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 059 60 Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia
² Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, via Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
³ Astronomical Institute, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan

(Received 27 July 2000 / Accepted 7 November 2000 )

Abstract
We analysed photometric and spectroscopic optical observations of the eclipsing symbiotic binary AX Persei. For the first time, we present and discuss its historical, 1887-1999, photographic/B-band and visual light curve (LC). The red giant in AX Per losses mass via the wind at a rate of $\dot M = 7.4\pm 1.7 10^{-7} M_{\odot} \rm yr^{-1}$ . The terminal velocity of the wind is $v_{\infty} = 32 \pm 6 \rm km s^{-1}$ . We estimated an effective radius of the HII nebula during the post-outburst stage (to JD 2450000) to be of $R_{\rm n} = 192 \pm 25 R_{\odot}$ and its average electron concentration $\tilde n_{\rm e} = (2.9 - 3.6) \pm 0.7 10^{9} \rm cm^{-3}$ for the electron temperature $T_{\rm e}$ = 1-1.5 10⁴ K. The [OIII] nebula in AX Per is rather dense, having the electron concentration $n_{\rm e}$ ([OIII]) $\approx 3 10^{7} \rm cm^{-3}$ for $T_{\rm e}$ = 1-1.5 10⁴ K. Spectroscopic observations made in the middle of the 1992.8 and 1994.7 eclipses showed that a significant part of flux emitted in the HI, HeII and nebular [OIII] lines originates in the vicinity of the hot component. Transition of AX Per to its nebular phase occurred at/around JD 2450000. A small $\sim$ 0.6 mag brightening at that time and consequently very broad wave-like variation in the LC developed. This event was caused by dilution of a shell around the hot star, during which about of 1.5 10⁵⁰ particles ( $\sim$ $1.3 10^{-7} M_{\odot}$ ) were injected into the ionized region.

Key words: stars: binaries: symbiotics -- stars: circumstellar matter -- stars: mass-loss

Offprint request: A. Skopal, skopal@ta3.sk

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