The binary nature of this system was announced in 1912 by Walter S. Adams.[9] It is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 13.4 days and an eccentricity of 0.13.[5] The system was found to be variable in 1958 by C. Roger Lynds, and the variability cycle was shown to be related to the orbital period.[9] It has been described as a heartbeat star rather than an eclipsing system. This is a type of pulsating star where the pulsations are induced by the tidal attraction of a close companion.[10]
V373 Cas is composed of two hot blue-white giant stars that have exhausted their core hydrogen and expanded off the main sequence. Lyubimkov and colleagues analysed spectral and radial velocity to calculate that the stars were ~19 and ~15 times as massive as the Sun and the age of the system is around 7-8 million years old.[6] The primary component is the more evolved and now comes close to filling its Roche lobe when it is at periastron.[11]
^ abWilson, R. E. (1953). "General Catalogue of Stellar Radial Velocities". Carnegie Institute Washington D.C. Publication. Bibcode:1953GCRV..C......0W.
^ abHill, G.; Fisher, W. A. (January 1987). "Studies of early-type variable stars. IV. The orbit and physical dimensions for V373 Cas". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 171: 123–130. Bibcode:1987A&A...171..123H.
^ abLyubimkov, L. S.; et al. (1998). "The binary system V373 Cas: orbital elements, parameters of the components, and helium abundance". Astronomy Reports. 42 (3): 312–321. Bibcode:1998ARep...42..312L.