V. S. Kozyreva
A. I. Zakharov Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow, Russia
Abstract
The eclipsing variable AS Camelopardalis is a binary system with
an anomalously slow apsidal motion. So far no acceptable explanation has been
presented for this phenomenon in the framework of classical theory of gravitation.
We observed this variable in 1981 and from 1993 to 1996. We determined the times
of minima and analyzed them to reveal a light-time effect with an amplitude of 3
minutes and a period of 2.2 years, thereby providing evidence for a third body in the
system. The allowance for the third-component effects may resolve the discrepancy
between the theoretical and observed rates of apsidal motion.