E. Budding’s research while affiliated with Victoria University of Wellington and other places

A Bayesian optimisation technique was applied to estimate orbital parameters for the visual double stars Sirius, ? Cen, AGC11AB, BU151AB, BU513AB, BU648, BU883AB, STT38BC, and STF1196AB. These estimates were compared with those adopted by the Washington Double Star catalog, showing good agreement. This indicates the reliability of the method, ahead of its planned use for systems with no prior published orbital parameter estimates.

We study how the value of the structural constant k 2 changes, depending on the age and metallicity of stars, particularly young and massive stars. For this context, values of k 2 , also called the apsildal motion constant, are calculated for six well-studied eclipsing–binaries: CW Cep, V 478 Cyg, AG Per, V 453 Cyg, V 578 Mon and HD 152218. The ages and metallicity values of the stars were entered into the EZ-Web stellar modelling program to calculate appropriate theoretical k 2 values to compare with those from observations. We found appropriate regression formula from the our results. From these findings we conclude that apsidal motion constants, when calculated from reliable data, can be used to estimate the ages of the stars.

We present combined photometric and spectroscopic analyses of the southern binary star PU Pup. High-resolution spectra of this system were taken at the University of Canterbury Mt. John Observatory in the years 2008 and again in 2014-15. We find the light contribution of the secondary component to be only $\sim$2\% of the total light of the system in optical wavelengths, resulting in a single-lined spectroscopic binary. Recent TESS data revealed grazing eclipses within the light minima, though the tidal distortion, examined also from HIPPARCOS data, remains the predominating light curve effect. Our model shows PU Pup to have the more massive primary relatively close to filling its Roche lobe. PU Pup is thus approaching the rare `fast phase' of interactive (Case B) evolution. Our adopted absolute parameters are as follows: $M_1$ = 4.10 ($\pm$0.20) M$_{\odot}$, $M_2$ = 0.65 ($\pm$0.05) M$_{\odot}$, $R_{1}$ = 6.60 ($\pm$0.30) R$_{\odot}$, $R_2$ = 0.90 ($\pm$0.10) R$_{\odot}$; $T_{1}$ = 11500 ($\pm$500) K, $T_{2}$ = 5000 ($\pm$350) K; photometric distance = 186 ($\pm$20) pc, age = 170 ($\pm$20) My. The less-massive secondary component is found to be significantly oversized and overluminous compared to standard Main Sequence models. We discuss this discrepancy referring to heating from the reflection effect.

New spectrometric data on V Pup are combined with satellite photometry (HIPPARCOS and recent TESS) to allow a revision of the absolute parameters with increased precision. We find: M1 = 14.0±0.5, M2 = 7.3±0.3 (M⊙); R1 = 5.48±0.18, R2 = 4.59±0.15 (R⊙); T1 26000±1000, T2 24000 ±1000 (K), age 5 ±1 (Myr), photometric distance 320 ±10 (pc). The TESS photometry reveals low-amplitude (∼0.002 mag) variations of the β Cep kind, consistent with the deduced evolutionary condition and age of the optical primary. This fact provides independent support to our understanding of the system as in a process of Case A type interactive evolution that can be compared with μ1 Sco. The ∼10 M⊙ amount of matter shed by the over-luminous present secondary must have been mostly ejected from the system rather than transferred, thus taking angular momentum out of the orbit and keeping the pair in relative close proximity. New times of minima for V Pup have been studied and the results compared with previous analyses. The implied variation of period is consistent with the Case A evolutionary model, though we offer only a tentative sketch of the original arrangement of this massive system. We are not able to confirm the previously reported cyclical variations having a 5.47 yr period with the new data, though a direct comparison between the HIPPARCOS and TESS photometry points to the presence of third light from a star that is cooler than those of the close binary, as mentioned in previous literature.

The new ephemeris and light curve analysis by synthesizing our mid-eclipse times and the former observations of BF Pav, that is classified as a W UMa-type eclipsing binary, are presented in this study. We also obtain this binary system's period changes using Wilson-Devinney code after five nights of observation utilizing BVRI filters. Our results demonstrate that BF Pav is a contact binary system with a photometric mass ratio q=0.94, and a fillout factor f=13%. We also calculated the distance of BF Pav d=150+-27 pc from distance modulus formula, which is in good agreement with the distance obtained from this binary system's parallax in Gaia DR2. From our O-C analysis, we found a continuous period increase at a rate of 0.3086634.10^-7 day/yr which corresponds to a period increase of 0.266 s century^-1. We determined the mass of each component of this binary system using two different methods and compare our results with the former study's results.

An update is given on the exoplanet research collaboration between Nielsen (a marketing research company), Brigham Young University, and NZ universities with the National University of Singapore, which has been expanded to include a community college in the US. Key achievements from the past year are outlined, including density estimates for HD 209458 and Kepler 1 from radial velocity and transit fits. A comparison between the WinFitter optimizer and other techniques is outlined, showing that WinFitter estimated statistical errors are essentially in line (bar a scaling proportion) with those estimated via Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques.

We present an updated O-C diagram of the light-time variations of the eclipsing binary (component B) in the system QZ Carinae as it moves in the long-period orbit around the non-eclipsing pair (component A). This includes new Variable Stars South members' measures from 2017 to 2019, BRITE satellite observations in 2017 and 2018, and 100 previously unpublished measures made at Auckland Observatory from 1974 to 1978. We conclude that QZ Carinae has not yet completed one orbit of the two pairs since discovery in 1971. The duration of totality of primary eclipses was measured to be 0.295 +/- 0.02 day (7.08 +/-0.48 hours), rather longer than earlier values from light curve models. Other observational findings include the shape of primary and secondary eclipses and small-scale short-term brightness changes.