Combined light curve and radial velocity analysis of the neglected contact binary S Ant

We present the first combined photometric and spectroscopic solution of the bright southern contact binary S Ant based on the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curve and the radial velocities from the David Dunlap Observatory survey. S Ant is a W UMa type binary in deep contact, with a mass ratio of 0.34 and a relatively massive and hot F-type primary. Beside the standard modeling of the phase-binned light curve, we also perform “seasonal modeling” where we treat each of the 83 orbital cycles present in the TESS data as a separate light curve. The resulting ensemble of solutions shows evidence of quasi-periodic migration of a long-lived, dark, polar spot. The migration is confirmed independently by eclipse time variations which display remarkably strong correlation with the spot location.