OGLE photometry of symbiotic stars in the Magellanic Clouds

Tali Palma, R. Angeloni, N. Masseti, P. Pietrukowicz, B.E. Schaefer, F. Di Mille, C. Germana, H.W. Lee, J.E. Heo, S.J. Chang, C.L. Hong, et al.

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Symbiotic stars are interacting binaries composed of a hot compact star and a late-type giant. Their complex photometric and spectroscopic variability is caused by a wide range of phenomena, e.g., intrinsic stellar pulsations at the origin of intense mass loss from the giant component, resultant accretion on the compact object, formation of an ionized nebula, etc. In this contribution we present OGLE V- and I-band light curves of a selected sample of symbiotic stars in the Magellanic Clouds, with the goal of characterizing these systems via their optical photometric properties: in particular, we try to constraint the nature of the giant component (also by providing its first-order pulsational ephemerides), and to link all this information with the physical parameters of the binary system as a whole.

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