9380 contact binaries from CRTS VSC

By measuring brightness change rates, light-curve statistics, and temperatures for this sample, we improve the understanding of contact binary light-curve characteristics, and luminosity variability on decadal time-scales. We show that binaries with convective outer envelopes have a different distribution of light-curve amplitudes and magnitude differences between eclipse minima than binaries with radiative outer envelopes.

We find that more than 2000 binaries exhibit a linear change in mean brightness over the 8-yr timespan of observations with at least 3{sigma} significance. We note that 25.9 per cent of binaries with convective outer envelopes exhibit a significant change in brightness, while only 10.5 per cent of radiative binaries exhibit a significant change in brightness. In 205 binaries (2.2 per cent), we find that a sinusoid model better describes the luminosity trend within the 8-yr observation timespan.