Photometric Investigation of a Very Short-Period Binary: Is BX Pegasi Undergoing Continuous Angular Momentum Losses?

Photoelectric observations of BX Peg, made in June and October 1988, are presented. Synthetic light-curve solutions indicate that the system consists of two late G type stars (G7 to G9) in a state of shallow contact (f = 12 percent), with the more massive component being the cooler one. The thermal contact is rather poor, with a temperature difference of 246 K; the mass ratio is about 0.37. Current theories of the structure of short-period low mass binaries are discussed.