Abstract
The variability of the binary system W Sct was discovered in the early 20th century, but the system remains poorly investigated. The only spectroscopic studies were made by Struve in the 1940s. He obtained a radial velocity curve for the primary component only and classified its spectrum as B3n. The first photometric observations were performed in Abastumani Astronomical Observatory in 1978–2003. We analyzed the observed \(UBV\) light curves using the synthesis method. The mass ratio \(q=M_{2}/M_{1}\) in the system is unknown, thus we searched for the solution for a number of \(q\) values. Calculations have shown that, regardless of the given values of \(q\) , the model solutions correspond to the orbital inclination \(i\sim 81^{\circ}\) and the temperature of the secondary component \(T_{2}\sim 32000{-}33000\) K. Based on the analysis of the light curves and using information about the mass function of the primary B3n component found by Struve, we conclude that the secondary component is probably a hotter star of spectral type B0. The results of the photometric analysis made it possible to give constraints on the value of the mass ratio \(q=0.3{-}0.4\) and to obtain estimates of the absolute parameters of the components.
