We present new results of our visual (V, R, I) and near-infrared (J,H,K) photometry for the unusual young star V718 Per. They show that, in addition to prolonged eclipses following one another with a period of 4.7 yr, the star also exhibits low-amplitude brightness oscillations with a period that is approximately a factor of 8 shorter than the main one. In contrast to the large-scale eclipses accompanied by the star's reddening, the low-amplitude oscillations are neutral in character and are produced by large particles. Bimodal oscillations of this type can arise in a circumstellar disk divided by a large matter-free gap into two zones-an inner, dense region and an outer, less dense disk. Such configurations emerge in the presence of a fairly massive perturbing body in the disk. In this case, density waves rotating with different angular velocities can be formed in each of these zones. Therefore, when such systems are observed nearly edge-on, two oscillation modes with different periods can be present in the extinction variations. We suggest that such a situation takes place in the case of V718 Per. Since this star exhibits no signatures of spectroscopic binarity, the perturbing body can be either a giant planet or a brown dwarf.

Translated title of the contributionОбнаружение малоамплитудных колебаний блеска уникальной затменной системы V718 Per (HMW 15, H 187)
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)828-835
Number of pages8
JournalAstronomy Letters
Volume35
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2009

    Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

    Research areas

  • Photometry, Protoplanetary disks, Young eclipsing systems

ID: 87425028