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Lecture 3:  Observed properties

Binaries, orbits, masses


Professor David Alexander


Rochester 335 (top oor)

Chapter 7 of Carroll and Ostlie

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Review of previous lecture




The tight relationship between mass further constraint the physical OBAFGKM (RNS): Oh Be Aand Fineluminosity Girl/Guy Kiss Me (Right Now Sweetie)!  power source
and structure of stars
Boltzmann equation: excitation states
Saha equation: ionisation states

Denition of line equivalent width




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Aims of lecture




Binary stars: basic properties



About 70% of stars in our galaxy are members of binary systems.



Planets have even been found around binary (or multiple) star systems!

Binary stars provide important insight into the formation and evolution of stars.

As we will see, binary stars provide a direct method for determining masses.



Binary stars: basic properties



a1

a2

a1

a2

In any binary/multiple star system the stars orbit about the centre of mass in elliptical orbits (semi-major axes of a1 and a2 for a binary system)



Equation 7



Binary stars: classication



Binary stars are classied depending on how they are identied:


(1) Visual binaries
(2) Astrometric binary
We wont cover optical doubles (3) Eclipsing binary
and spectrum binaries
(4) Spectroscopic binary
These classes are not mutually exclusive (a system can be in more than one class). We focus mostly on visual, spectroscopic, and eclipsing spectroscopic binaries (combination of eclipsing and spectroscopic).

Castor through a small telescope


In a visual binary both stars can be spatially resolved. Assuming that the orbits of both stars are not long then it is possible to monitor the duration of the orbit and the orbital parameters directly. This image here shows the Castor star system, taken with a small telescope. The Castor star system was the first multiple-star system to be identified (in 1678). Castor is actually a sextuple star system! Both of these stars have a faint companion (spectroscopic binary) and another faint binary pair orbits at a greater distance (which is an eclipsing binary!).

Visual binary
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Binary stars: classication



Astrometric binary:
If one member of the binary is much brighter than the other then it may not be possible to directly see the fainter star. However, the existence of the unseen star can be inferred from the motion of the brighter star. A famous example is Sirius B, the white dwarf discovered from the motion of Sirius A in 1844 (explored in a later lecture).

Eclipsing binary:
For binaries with orbital planes orientated approximately along the line of sight to the observer, one star may periodically pass in front of the other, blocking the light of the eclipsed component. Such a system is recognised by regular variations in the amount of observed light. This technique is also used to search for exo-planets from the small dip in brightness due to the eclipse of a planet in front of a star.
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Binary stars: classication



Observer

Wavelength Orbital conguration


(velocity) line shift

Spectroscopic binary:
If the period of a binary system is not prohibitively long, and if the orbital motion has a component along the line of sight, a periodic shift in the spectral lines will be observable. If the luminosities of the two stars are comparable, both spectra will be observable (double lined). If one is much fainter than the other is, only one set of lines is seen (single lined).
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Stars must be quite close together for changes in velocity to be seen



Visual binary stars: mass determination



a1

a2

a1

a2



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Equation 8



Visual binary stars: mass determination



This picture is a bit idealised because most binary systems will be inclined away from our line of sight and therefore the effect of the inclination angle on our calculations need to be considered.

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Visual binary stars: mass determination



Focus of observed ellipse

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Spectroscopic binary stars



Recall from earlier slide:


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Spectroscopic binary stars: eccentricity


Circular orbit (no eccentricity)

Eccentric orbit: skewed velocity curves


Orbital eccentricity has a marked effect on the shape of the velocity curves. The inclination angle has no effect on the shape but it does effect the amplitude.
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Spectroscopic binary stars: masses





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Equation 9



Spectroscopic binary stars: masses



So we can also express both the mass and the mass ratio in terms of velocity and period.
But, again, knowledge of i is required to determine the most accurate masses.
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Eclipsing spectroscopic binaries



Eclipsing spectroscopic binaries are a special case of binary star. As the stars are eclipsing the inclination of the system must be close to 90 degrees. Therefore, there are small inclination angle corrections and so we will have reliable velocity measurements.

Primary eclipse

Secondary eclipse

The inclination angle must be close to 90 degrees for an eclipse to occur, particularly if the secondary star is not in close orbit. If the secondary star is in close orbit than i will still be quite close to 90 degrees. We can use also eclipses to estimate stellar radii (as we explored in lecture 1). The relative drop in light curve also indicates the effective-temperature ratio of the two stars, which we will explore in more detail here. Therefore, in eclipsing spectroscopic binaries we get reliable velocity (and therefore mass) measurements (little angle dependence)

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Eclipsing spectroscopic binaries



The shape of the light prole during the eclipse can further rene estimates of the inclination angle; compare these two plots. Note the overall width of the light-curve dips are the same irregardless of whether it is a primary or secondary eclipse.

The inclination angle is almost exactly 90 degrees and the dip in the light curve is flat.

The inclination angle is less than 90 degrees (but still highly inclined) and the dip in the light curve is peaked.

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Eclipsing spectroscopic binaries: temperature


B0 Primary minimum Secondary minimum

The relative depths of the light-curve dips indicate the ratio of effective temperatures

BP

BS

(see Ch 7 of CO book for more details)


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Stellar mass-luminosity relationship




Using the best mass constraints, astronomers have found a tight relationship between mass and luminosity this provides constraints on the energy source (and lifetimes)

+!

Equation 10

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