A preliminary distance etimate to SMC 108.1.14904, a long-period eclipsing binary in the Small Magellanic Cloud, is presented. The binary system contains two bright, non-active G-type giants. Its orbital period is 185 days and the orbit is circular. Using surface brightness calibration, we obtain a distance modulus to the system of (m-M)= 19.02 ± 0.04 (statistical) ± 0.05 (systematic) mag, where the systematic error is dominated by uncertainties in the surface brightness calibration. This is a second eclipsing binary in the SMC analysed by our team.

The results of a spectrum synthesis analysis of elemental abundances derived from the high-resolution CCD-spectrograms of the SMC red supergiant stars PMMR23 and PMMR39 (stars 23 & 39 in the catalogue Prevot et al. 1983) are presented. The abundances of 35 elements in the atmosphere of PMMR23 have been obtained. Elements with atomic numbers Z<56 are deficient with respect to the solar abundances. The mean underabundance is about –0.7 dex. The abundances of elements heavier than barium are close to the solar value. In the case of PMMR23, the atmosphere is enriched in elements heavier than barium which show abundances close to the solar value. These abundances can be explained as a combination of r- and s-processes. In PMMR39, all the 20 studied elements present abundances deficient with respect to solar values The abundances of 31 elements with Z>30 are determined in the atmosphere of Arcturus.