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Description
We used the newly commissioned 50cm Binocular Network telescope at Qinghai Station of Purple Mountain Observatory (Chinese Academy of Sciences) to observe the old open cluster NGC188 in V and R as part of a search for variable objects. Our time-series data span a total of 36 days. Radial velocity and proper-motion selection resulted in a sample of 532 genuine cluster members. Isochrone fitting was applied to the cleaned cluster sequence, yielding a distance modulus of (m-M)_V_^0^=11.35+/-0.10mag and a total foreground reddening of E(V-R)=0.062+/-0.002mag. Light-curve solutions were obtained for eight W Ursae Majoris eclipsing binary systems (W UMas), and their orbital parameters were estimated. Using the latter parameters, we estimate a distance to the W UMas that is independent of the host cluster's physical properties. Based on combined fits to six of the W UMas (EP Cep, EQ Cep, ES Cep, V369 Cep, and-for the first time-V370 Cep and V782 Cep), we obtain an average distance modulus of (m-M)_V_^0^=11.31+/-0.08mag, which is comparable to that resulting from our isochrone fits. These six W UMas exhibit an obvious period-luminosity relation. We derive more accurate physical parameters for the W UMa systems and discuss their initial masses and ages. The former show that these W UMa systems have likely undergone angular momentum evolution within a convective envelope (W-type evolution). The ages of the W UMa systems agree well with the cluster's age.
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