2002A&A...384..209A

We introduce our observational study of the orbital motion and the intrinsic variability of the double-lined spectroscopic binary β Cen. Using 463 high signal-to-noise, high-resolution spectra obtained over a timespan of 12 years it is shown that the radial velocity of β Cen varies with an orbital period of 357.0 days. We derive for the first time the orbital parameters of β Cen and find a very eccentric orbit (e=0.81) and similar component masses with a mass ratio M₁/M₂=1.02. β Cen forms a challenge for current evolution scenarios in close binaries and it is also a puzzle how a massive binary with such a large eccentricity could have formed in the first place. Both the primary and the secondary exhibit line-profile variations. A period analysis performed on the radial velocity variations of the primary after prewhitening the orbital motion leads to the detection of at least 3 pulsation frequencies while the star does not show any periodic photometric variability.