731 research outputs found
A New Low-Mass Eclipsing Binary from SDSS-II
We present observations of a new low-mass double-lined eclipsing binary
system discovered using repeat observations of the celestial equator from the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey II. Using near-infrared photometry and optical
spectroscopy we have measured the properties of this short-period
[P=0.407037(14) d] system and its two components. We find the following
parameters for the two components: M_1=0.272+/-0.020 M_sun, R_1=0.268+/-0.010
R_sun, M_2=0.240+/-0.022 M_sun, R_2=0.248+/-0.0090 R_sun, T_1=3320+/-130 K,
T_2=3300+/-130 K. The masses and radii of the two components of this system
agree well with theoretical expectations based on models of low-mass stars,
within the admittedly large errors. Future synoptic surveys like Pan-STARRS and
LSST will produce a wealth of information about low-mass eclipsing systems and
should make it possible, with an increased reliance on follow-up observations,
to detect many systems with low-mass and sub-stellar companions. With the large
numbers of objects for which these surveys will produce high-quality
photometry, we suggest that it becomes possible to identify such systems even
with sparse time sampling and a relatively small number of individual
observations.Comment: 15 Pages, 9 Figures, 6 Tables. Replaced with version accepted to Ap
Detection Rates for Close Binaries Via Microlensing
Microlensing is one of the most promising methods of reconstructing the
stellar mass function down to masses even below the hydrogen-burning limit. The
fundamental limit to this technique is the presence of unresolved binaries,
which can in principle significantly alter the inferred mass function. Here we
quantify the fraction of binaries that can be detected using microlensing,
considering specifically the mass ratio and separation of the binary. We find
that almost all binary systems with separations greater than of
their combined Einstein ring radius are detectable assuming a detection
threshold of . For two M dwarfs, this corresponds to a limiting separation
of \gsim 1 \au. Since very few observed M dwarfs have companions at
separations \lsim 1 \au, we conclude that close binaries will probably not
corrupt the measurements of the mass function. We find that the detectability
depends only weakly on the mass ratio. For those events for which individual
masses can be determined, we find that binaries can be detected down to .Comment: 19 pages including 6 figures. Uses phyyzx format. Send requests for
higher quality figures to [email protected]
Astrometric Microlensing Constraints on a Massive Body in the Outer Solar System with Gaia
A body in Solar orbit beyond the Kuiper belt exhibits an annual parallax that
exceeds its apparent proper motion by up to many orders of magnitude. Apparent
motion of this body along the parallactic ellipse will deflect the angular
position of background stars due to astrometric microlensing ("induced
parallax"). By synoptically sampling the astrometric position of background
stars over the entire sky, constraints on the existence (and basic properties)
of a massive nearby body may be inferred. With a simple simulation, we estimate
the signal-to-noise for detecting such a body -- as function of mass,
heliocentric distance, and ecliptic latitude -- using the anticipated
sensitivity and temporal cadences from Gaia (launch 2011). A Jupiter-mass
(M_Jup) object at 2000 AU is detectable by Gaia over the whole sky above
5-sigma, with even stronger constraints if it lies near the ecliptic plane.
Hypotheses for the mass (~3M_Jup), distance (~20,000 AU) and location of the
proposed perturber ("Planet X") which gives rise to long-period comets may be
testable.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures. Figures revised, new figure added, minor text
revisions. Accepted to ApJ, to appear in the Dec 10, 2005 issue (v635
High-precision astrometry on the VLT/FORS1 at time scales of few days
We investigate the accuracy of astrometric measurements with the VLT/FORS1
camera and consider potential applications. The study is based on two-epoch
(2000 and 2002/2003) frame series of observations of a selected Galactic Bulge
sky region that were obtained with FORS1 during four consecutive nights each.
Reductions were carried out with a novel technique that eliminates atmospheric
image motion and does not require a distinction between targets and reference
objects. The positional astrometric precision was found to be limited only by
the accuracy of the determination of the star photocentre, which is typically
200-300 microarcsec per single measurement for bright unsaturated stars
B=18-19. Several statistical tests have shown that at time-scales of 1-4 nights
the residual noise in measured positions is essentially a white noise with no
systematic instrumental signature and no significant deviation from a Gaussian
distribution. Some evidence of a good astrometric quality of the VLT for frames
separated by two years has also been found. Our data show that the VLT with
FORS1/2 cameras can be effectively used for astrometric observations of
planetary microlensing events and other applications where a high accuracy is
required, that is expected to reach 30-40 microarcsec for a series of 50 frames
(one hours with R filter).Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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