1995A&A...295..161B

The secondary minimum close to the superior conjunction of the giant star, recently observed in two symbiotic binaries (Skopal & Komarek 1990CoSka..20...99S; Skopal et al. 1991A&A...245..531S; Hric et al. 1991CoSka..21..303H), is confirmed and reinterpreted as an occultation of the giant due to an extended bright region near the hot companion. At the primary minimum the radiation by the same region and by the white dwarf is scattered and markedly weakened by the extended atmosphere of the late type giant. New orbital elements and a radial velocity curve of the HeI emission in EG And imply a mass ratio lower than 1. They constrain the giant's radius to be larger than 159±7R☉, for the lowest value of the mass admitted for white dwarfs. The size of the giant atmosphere, which is bigger than that of the photosphere of a typical giant (80R☉), is possibly the result of the formation of a thick envelope with a radius not less than 279±11R☉, in agreement with the estimate by Shore & Aufdenberg (1993ApJ...416..355S), irrespective of the secondary minimum interpretation.