Long-term starspot activity of short-period RS Canum Venaticorum stars. II - RT Andromedae

Abstract

The photometric distortion waves in the light curves of the short-period RS CVn system RT And are parameterized by means of a dark, circular starspot model. The light curves are drawn from archival sources and 1987 and 1989 observations. The longitudes, latitudes, and areas of the active regions are inferred and the information content of the archival data is evaluated. It is concluded that one large starspot region on the primary star at high latitude and near quadrature longitudes can account for the major maculation effects since 1920. The temperature difference between the spotted region and the photosphere is 1100 to 1200 K. Good quality light curves result in an eccentricity (e = 0.026) and major axis orientation consistent with those reported by others using different procedures.