2024AJ....167...18H

We present detailed analyses of updated eclipse timing diagrams for 32 contact binary merger candidates in the Galactic bulge. The photometric data was obtained from 2016 to 2021 using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network with the 1.6 m telescopes located at three southern sites (CTIO, SAAO, and SSO). The times of minimum lights were determined by applying the binary-star model to full light curves created at half-year intervals from the observations. The orbital period variations of the binary systems were analyzed using the O - C diagrams from our new timings with the others published in the literature, which are based on the OGLE observations from 2001 to 2015. As results, the orbital periods and period-decreasing rates of 32 binary systems were located to be in the ranges of 0.370 to 1.238 days and from -3.0 to -13.1 × 10^–6 day yr^–1, respectively. Out of these stars, 24 systems show a combination effect of a parabola and a light travel time caused by a third body, and their outer orbital periods are in the range of 9.1-26.5 yr. We propose that all of our merger candidates need additional monitoring observations to study a luminous-red nova progenitor.