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Visible light reflecting off a star.

Posted: 08.11.2012, 04:01
by PlutonianEmpire
http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.8146

We announce the discovery of a new eclipsing hot subdwarf B + M dwarf binary, EC 10246-2707, and present multi-colour photometric and spectroscopic observations of this system. Similar to other HW Vir-type binaries, the light curve shows both primary and secondary eclipses, along with a strong reflection effect from the M dwarf; no intrinsic light contribution is detected from the cool companion.

Granted, it's probably not groundbreaking or revolutionary in any way, but I find it quite interesting to see an actual star actually reflecting light.

Was this observed with HW Vir as well?

One thing I'm curious about, when brightness/contrast corrections are applied, what would we see when looking at the "daytime" side of the M dwarf star?