Surface imaging of late-type contact binaries II: Halpha 6563 A emission in AE Phoenicis and YY Eridani

Abstract

We present and discuss the Halpha (6563 A) observations of the contact (W UMa type) binaries AE Phoenicis and YY Eridani, obtaineded in 1989, 1990 and 1995 with the CAT/CES telescope of the Southern European Observatory (ESO). In particular, we compare the intrinsic equivalent widths of both components with the NextGen theoretical models and the saturation limit. We find that the average Halpha equivalent widths are close to the saturation border and that the primary components have excess Halpha-emission, indicating enhanced chromospheric activity. This is compatible with both theoretical and observational suggestions that the primary is the more magnetically active component and is filled with (mostly unresolvable) dark spots and associated chromospheric plages.