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The Clusters AgeS Experiment (CASE). VI. Analysis of two detached eclipsing binaries in the Globular Cluster M55

We present an analysis of the detached eclipsing binaries V44 and V54 belonging to the globular cluster M55. For V54 we obtain the following absolute parameters: $M_p=0.726\pm 0.015\,M_\odot$, $R_p=1.006\pm 0.009\,R_\odot$, $L_p=1.38\pm 0.07\,L_\odot$ for the primary, and $M_s=0.555\pm 0.008\,M_\odot$, $R_s=0.528\pm 0.005\,R_\odot$, $L_s=0.16\pm0.01\,L_\odot$ for the secondary. The age and apparent distance modulus of V54 are estimated at 13.3 - 14.7 Gyr and $13.94\pm0.05$ mag, respectively. This age is substantially larger than ages we have derived from the analysis of binary systems in 47 Tuc and M4. The secondary of V44 is so weak in the optical domain that only mass function and relative parameters are obtained for the components of this system. However, there is a good chance that the velocity curve of the secondary could be derived from near-IR spectra. As the primary of V44 is more evolved than that of V54, such data would impose much tighter limits on the age and distance of M55.