972 research outputs found
On the mass of the neutron star in V395 Car/2S 0921-630
We report high-resolution optical spectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary
V395 Car/2S 0921-630 obtained with the MIKE echelle spectrograph on the
Magellan-Clay telescope. Our spectra are obtained near superior conjunction of
the mass donor star and we exploit the absorption lines originating from the
back-side of the K-type object to accurately derive its rotational velocity.
Using K0-K1 III templates, we find vsini=32.9 +/- 0.8 km/s. We show that the
choice of template star and the assumed limb darkening coefficient has little
impact on the derived rotational velocity. This value is a significant revision
downwards compared to previously published values. We derive new system
parameter constraints in the light of our much lower rotational velocity. We
find M_1=1.44 +/- 0.10 Msun, M_2=0.35 +/- 0.03 Msun, and q=0.24 +/- 0.02 where
the errors have been estimated through a Monte-Carlo simulation. A possible
remaining systematic effect is the fact that we may be over-estimating the
orbital velocity of the mass donor due to irradiation effects. However, any
correction for this effect will only reduce the compact object mass further,
down to a minimum mass of M_1=1.05 +/- 0.08 Msun. There is thus strong evidence
that the compact object in this binary is a neutron star of rather typical mass
and that the previously reported mass values of 2-4Msun were too high due to an
over-estimate of the rotational broadening.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
The dependence of convective core overshooting on stellar mass
Context. Convective core overshooting extends the main-sequence lifetime of a star. Evolutionary tracks computed with overshooting are very different from those that use the classical Schwarzschild criterion, which leads to rather different predictions for the stellar properties. Attempts over the last two decades to calibrate the degree of overshooting with stellar mass using detached double-lined eclipsing binaries have been largely inconclusive, mainly because of a lack of suitable observational data. Aims. We revisit the question of a possible mass dependence of overshooting with a more complete sample of binaries, and examine any additional relation there might be with evolutionary state or metal abundance Z. Methods. We used a carefully selected sample of 33 double-lined eclipsing binaries strategically positioned in the H-R diagram with accurate absolute dimensions and component masses ranging from 1.2 to 4.4 M. We compared their measured properties with stellar evolution calculations to infer semi-empirical values of the overshooting parameter α for each star. Our models use the common prescription for the overshoot distance d = αH, where H is the pressure scale height at the edge of the convective core as given by the Schwarzschild criterion, and α is a free parameter. Results. We find a relation between α and mass, which is defined much more clearly than in previous work, and indicates a significant rise up to about 2 M followed by little or no change beyond this mass. No appreciable dependence is seen with evolutionary state at a given mass, or with metallicity at a given mass although the stars in our sample span a range of a factor of ten in [Fe/H], from -1.01 to + 0.01.The Spanish MEC (AYA2015-71718-R) is gratefully acknowledged for its support during the development of this work. G.T. acknowledges partial support from the NSF through grant AST-1509375Peer Reviewe
High-precision photometry by telescope defocussing. III. The transiting planetary system WASP-2
We present high-precision photometry of three transits of the extrasolar
planetary system WASP-2, obtained by defocussing the telescope, and achieving
point-to-point scatters of between 0.42 and 0.73 mmag. These data are modelled
using the JKTEBOP code, and taking into account the light from the
recently-discovered faint star close to the system. The physical properties of
the WASP-2 system are derived using tabulated predictions from five different
sets of stellar evolutionary models, allowing both statistical and systematic
errorbars to be specified. We find the mass and radius of the planet to be M_b
= 0.847 +/- 0.038 +/- 0.024 Mjup and R_b = 1.044 +/- 0.029 +/- 0.015 Rjup. It
has a low equilibrium temperature of 1280 +/- 21 K, in agreement with a recent
finding that it does not have an atmospheric temperature inversion. The first
of our transit datasets has a scatter of only 0.42 mmag with respect to the
best-fitting light curve model, which to our knowledge is a record for
ground-based observations of a transiting extrasolar planet.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 9 pages, 3 figures, 10 table
Absolute dimensions of the unevolved B-type eclipsing binary GG Orionis
We present photometric observations in B and V as well as spectroscopic
observations of the detached, eccentric 6.6-day double-lined eclipsing binary
GG Ori, a member of the Orion OB1 association. Absolute dimensions of the
components, which are virtually identical, are determined to high accuracy
(better than 1% in the masses and better than 2% in the radii) for the purpose
of testing various aspects of theoretical modeling. We obtain M(A) = 2.342 +/-
0.016 solar masses and R(A) = 1.852 +/- 0.025 solar radii for the primary, and
M(B) = 2.338 +/- 0.017 solar masses and R(B) = 1.830 +/- 0.025 solar radii for
the secondary. The effective temperature of both stars is 9950 +/- 200 K,
corresponding to a spectral type of B9.5. GG Ori is very close to the ZAMS, and
comparison with current stellar evolution models gives ages of 65-82 Myr or 7.7
Myr depending on whether the system is considered to be burning hydrogen on the
main sequence or still in the final stages of pre-main sequence contraction. We
have detected apsidal motion in the binary at a rate of dw/dt = 0.00061 +/-
0.00025 degrees per cycle, corresponding to an apsidal period of U = 10700 +/-
4500 yr. A substantial fraction of this (approximately 70%) is due to the
contribution from General Relativity.Comment: To appear in The Astronomical Journal, December 200
A Strict Test of Stellar Evolution Models: The Absolute Dimensions of Massive Benchmark Eclipsing Binary V578 Mon
We determine the absolute dimensions of the eclipsing binary V578 Mon, a
detached system of two early B-type stars (B0V + B1V, P2.40848 d) in the
star-forming region NGC 2244 of the Rosette Nebula. From the light curve
analysis of 40 yr of photometry and the analysis of HERMES spectra, we find
radii of Rsun and Rsun, and temperatures of ~K and K respectively. We find that our
disentangled component spectra for V578 Mon agree well previous spectral
disentangling from the literature. We also reconfirm the previous spectroscopic
orbit of V578 Mon finding that masses of Msun and Msun are fully compatible with the new analysis. We compare the absolute
dimensions to the rotating models of the Geneva and Utrecht groups and the
models of Granada group. We find all three sets of models marginally reproduce
the absolute dimensions of both stars with a common age within uncertainty for
gravity-effective temperature isochrones. However - there are some apparent age
discrepancies for the corresponding mass-radius isochrones. Models with larger
convective overshoot worked best. Combined with our previously
determined apsidal motion of deg cycle,
we compute the internal structure constants (tidal Love number) for the
newtonian and general relativistic contribution to the apsidal motion,
and respectively. We find
the relativistic contribution to the apsidal motion of be small . We find
that the prediction of of the Granada
models fully agrees with our observed .Comment: accepted for publication in AJ 05/02/201
Observational Tests and Predictive Stellar Evolution
We compare eighteen binary systems with precisely determined radii and masses
from 23 to 1.1 M_sol, and stellar evolution models produced with our newly
revised code TYCHO. ``Overshooting'' and rotational mixing were suppressed in
order to establish a baseline for isolating these and other hydrodynamic
effects. Acceptable coeval fits are found for sixteen pairs without optimizing
for heavy element or helium abundance. The precision of these tests is limited
by the accuracies of the observed effective temperatures. High dispersion
spectra and detailed atmospheric modeling should give more accurate effective
temperatures and heavy element abundances. PV Cas, a peculiar early A system,
EK Cep B, a known post-T Tauri star, and RS Cha, a member of a young OB
association, are matched by pre-main sequence models. Predicted mass loss
agrees with upper limits from IUE for CW Cep A and B. Relatively poor fits are
obtained for binaries having at least one component in the mass range 1.7 <
M/M_sol <2.6, whose evolution is sensitive to mixing. These discrepancies are
robust and consistent with additional mixing in real stars. The predicted
apsidal motion implies that massive star models are systematically less
centrally condensed than the real stars. If these effects are due to
overshooting, then the overshooting parameter alpha_OV increases with stellar
mass. The apsidal motion constants are controlled by radiative opacity under
conditions close to those directly measured in laser experiments, making this
test more stringent than possible before.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures (color versions of figures 1,2,3,4, and 9 are
available separately). Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Absolute dimensions of solar-type eclipsing binaries. EF Aquarii: a G0 test for stellar evolution models
Recent studies have shown that stellar chromospheric activity, and its effect
on convective energy transport in the envelope, is most likely the cause of
significant radius and temperature discrepancies between theoretical evolution
models and observations. We aim to determine absolute dimensions and abundances
for the solar-type detached eclipsing binary EF Aqr, and to perform a detailed
comparison with results from recent stellar evolutionary models. uvby-beta
standard photometry was obtained with the Stromgren Automatic Telescope. The
broadening function formalism was applied on spectra observed with HERMES at
the Mercator telescope in La Palma, to obtain radial velocity curves. Masses
and radii with a precision of 0.6% and 1.0% respectively have been established
for both components of EF Aqr. The active 0.956 M_sol secondary shows star
spots and strong Ca II H and K emission lines. The 1.224 M_sol primary shows
signs of activity as well, but at a lower level. An [Fe/H] abundance of
0.00+-0.10 is derived with similar abundances for Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Co,
and Ni. Solar calibrated evolutionary models such as Yonsei-Yale,
Victoria-Regina and BaSTI isochrones and evolutionary tracks are unable to
reproduce EF Aqr, especially for the secondary, which is 9% larger and 400 K
cooler than predicted. Models adopting significantly lower mixing length
parameters l/H_p remove these discrepancies, as seen in other solar type
binaries. For the observed metallicity, Granada models with a mixing length of
l/H_p=1.30 (primary) and 1.05 (secondary) reproduce both components at a common
age of 1.5+-0.6 Gyr. Observations of EF Aqr suggests that magnetic activity,
and its effect on envelope convection, is likely to be the cause of
discrepancies in both radius and temperature, which can be removed by adjusting
the mixing length parameter of the models downwards.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication by A&
Spurious Eccentricities of Distorted Binary Components
I discuss the effect of physical distortion on the velocities of close binary
components and how we may use the resulting distortion of velocity curves to
constrain some properties of binary systems, such as inclination and mass
ratio. Precise new velocities for 5 Cet convincingly detect these distortions
with their theoretically predicted phase dependence. We can even use such
distortions of velocity curves to test Lucy's theory of convective gravity
darkening. The observed distortions for TT Hya and 5 Cet require the contact
components of those systems to be gravity darkened, probably somewhat more than
predicted by Lucy's theory but clearly not as much as expected for a radiative
star. These results imply there is no credible evidence for eccentric orbits in
binaries with contact components. I also present some speculative analyses of
the observed properties of a binary encased in a non-rotating common envelope,
if such an object could actually exist, and discuss how the limb darkening of
some recently calculated model atmospheres for giant stars may bias my resuts
for velocity-curve distortions, as well as other results from a wide range of
analyses of binary stars.Comment: 14 pp, 2 tables, 12 fig; under review by Ap
Dynamical Tide in Solar-Type Binaries
Circularization of late-type main-sequence binaries is usually attributed to
turbulent convection, while that of early-type binaries is explained by
resonant excitation of g modes. We show that the latter mechanism operates in
solar-type stars also and is at least as effective as convection, despite
inefficient damping of g modes in the radiative core. The maximum period at
which this mechanism can circularize a binary composed of solar-type stars in
10 Gyr is as low as 3 days, if the modes are damped by radiative diffusion only
and g-mode resonances are fixed; or as high as 6 days, if one allows for
evolution of the resonances and for nonlinear damping near inner turning
points. Even the larger theoretical period falls short of the observed
transition period by a factor two.Comment: 17 pages, 2 postscript figures, uses aaspp4.sty. Submitted to Ap
Apsidal Motion of the Massive, Benchmark Eclipsing Binary V578 Mon
V578 Mon is a system of two early B-type stars in the Rosette Nebula
star-forming region (NGC 2244), and is one of only nine eclipsing binaries with
component masses greater than 10 M\odot whose physical parameters have been
determined with an accuracy of better than 3%. It is therefore a benchmark
system for evolutionary and stellar structure models of newly formed massive
stars. Combining our multi-band light curves spanning 40 yr with previous light
curve data from the literature, we fit a model light curve that for the first
time includes the effects of apsidal motion of the system. We measure an
apsidal period of 33.48+0.10-0.06 yr. As a consequence of incorporating the
apsidal motion into the modeling of the system's orbital parameters, we
determine an updated eccentricity of e = 0.07755+0.00022-0.00027, which differs
significantly from the value previously reported in the literature. Evidently,
the inclusion of apsidal motion in the light curve modeling significantly
affects the eccentricity determination. Incorporating these key parameters into
a comprehensive model of the system's physical parameters-including internal
structure constraints- will bring V578 Mon to the next level of benchmark
precision and utility.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, to appear in the Astronomical Journa
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