Fundamental parameters and origin of the very eccentric binary 41 Dra^*

¹ Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
² Special Astrophysical Observatory, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Zelenchuk region, Karachai-Cherkesia 369167, Russia
³ Sternberg Astronomical Institute, 13 Universitetskii pr., 119992 Moscow, Russia
⁴ Institute of Astronomy of Russian Acad. Sci., 48 Pyatnitskaya St., 109017 Moscow, Russia
⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany

Corresponding author: A. Tokovinin, atokovinin@ctio.noao.edu

Received: 17 March 2003
Accepted: 28 May 2003

Abstract

The evolutionary status and origin of the most eccentric known binary in a quadruple system, 41 Dra (, period 3.413 yr), are discussed. New observations include the much improved combined speckle-interferometric orbit, resolved photometry of the components and their spectroscopic analysis. The age of the system is  Gyr; all four components are likely coeval. The high eccentricity of the orbit together with known age and masses provide a constraint on the tidal circularization theory: it seems that the eccentric orbit survived because the convective zones of the F-type dwarfs were very thin. Now as the components of 41 Dra are leaving the Main Sequence, their increased interaction at each periastron passage may result in detectable changes in period and eccentricity.