Physical parameters and ±0.2% parallax of the detached eclipsing binary V923 Scorpii

Abstract

Context. V923 Sco is a bright (V = 5.91), nearby (π = 15.46 ± 0.40 mas) southern eclipsing binary. Because both components are slow rotators, the minimum masses of the components are known with 0.2% precision from spectroscopy. The system seems ideal for very precise mass, radius, and luminosity determinations and, owing to its proximity and long orbital period (~34.8 days), promises to be resolved with long-baseline interferometry. Aims. The principal aim is very accurate determinations of absolute stellar parameters for both components of the eclipsing binary and a model-independent determination of the distance. Methods. New high-precision photometry of both eclipses of V923 Sco with the MOST satellite was obtained. The system was spatially resolved with the VLTI AMBER, PIONIER, and GRAVITY instruments at nine epochs. Combining the projected size of the spectroscopic orbit (in km) and visual orbit (in mas) the distance to the system is derived. Simultaneous analysis of photometric, spectroscopic, and interferometric data was performed to obtain a robust determination of the absolute parameters. Results. Very precise absolute parameters of the components were derived in spite of the parameter correlations. The primary component is found to be overluminous for its mass. Combining spectroscopic and interferometric observations enabled us to determine the distance to V923 Sco with better than 0.2% precision, which provides a stringent test of Gaia parallaxes. Conclusions. It is shown that combining spectroscopic and interferometric observations of nearby eclipsing binaries can lead to extremely accurate parallaxes and stellar parameters.