1) Speaker: Qian Shengbang (Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Title: “The Origin of Luminous Red Novae and the Merging of Deep Contact Binary Stars”

Abstract:

Luminous red novae are a rare type of stellar outburst that are more luminous than most novae, but fainter than supernovae. They were discovered in the Milky Way galaxy and in other Galaxies including spiral and elliptical Galaxies. One of the possibilities for their origin is the merging of deep contact binary stars. In this talk, we will present the new results on the physical properties and evolutionary states of those binary stars. Then the merging of those deep contact binaries and the origin of Luminous Red Novae are discussed.

2) Speaker: Zhu Liying (Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Title: “Mass Transfer in Near Contact Binaries”

Abstract:

Near Contact Binaries (NCBs) are close binaries with both components filling or nearly filling their critical Roche Lobes. They display strong tidal interaction and show EB-type variation. Mass transfer is the main character of NCBs according to their geometric definition. As we know mass transfer is the key reason causing binary evolution differnt from single star evolution. Therefore, NCBs provide a good labotory to study mass transfer. In the present talk, we will introduce some of our work on mass transfer in NCBs.

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