Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-24hb2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T06:26:08.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Statistical Modeling and Analysis of Wide Binary Star Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2007

K.B. Johnston
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Florida Institute of Technology150 West University Blvd., Melbourne, Fl 32901 email: kyjohnst@fit.edu and toswalt@fit.edu
T.D. Oswalt
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Florida Institute of Technology150 West University Blvd., Melbourne, Fl 32901 email: kyjohnst@fit.edu and toswalt@fit.edu
D. Valls-Gabaud
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique UMR CNRS 5572, Observatoire Midi-Pyre'ne'es 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, France. email: David.Valls-Gabaud@obspm.fr
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Post-main-sequence (MS) mass loss causes orbital separation amplification in fragile (i.e. common proper motion) binary star systems. Components typically have separations around ∼1000 AU. Such wide pairs experience negligible tidal interactions and mass transfer between companions; thus they evolve as two separate but coeval stars. In this paper we compute the rate of mass loss during the components' lifetimes and attempt to model how it will statistically distort a frequency distribution of fragile binary separations. Understanding this process provides a robust test of current theories of stellar evolution and sets constraints on the dynamics of the Galactic disk.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007

References

Hurley, J., Pols, O., & Tout, C., 2000, MNRAS, 315, 543569 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luyten, W.J., 1969, Proper Motion Survey with the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope, XXI Double Stars with Common Proper Motion, University of Minnesota Google Scholar
Pringle, J.E. 1985, in Interacting Binary Stars, ed. Pringle, J.E. & Wade, R.A. (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press), 1 Google Scholar
Valls–Gabaud, D., 1988, Ap&SS, 142, 289304 Google Scholar
Wasserman, I., 1988, Ap&SS, 142 267276 Google Scholar
Zinnecker, H., 1984, Ap&SS, 99, 4170 Google Scholar