The effect of the apsidal motion on the light curve of the close binary HD 93205 (O3V+O8V)

The 1982-1985 photometry ( VBLUW system) of the O3V+O8V close binary HD 93205 has been rediscussed because of new insights into its true nature and orbital changes. By comparing this data set with the one obtained by Antokhina et al. (2000) in 1993, and using the same ephemeris to construct the light curve in the phase diagram, the effect of the apsidal motion became obvious: a phase shift between the two light curves and a small change of the shape. A phase-locked light variation in the L passband (containing the higher Balmer lines) is clearly present in the 1982-1985 data set and is presumably due to absorption if the O8 star is seen through cooler inter-binary gas, e.g. the bow-shock between the two colliding winds.