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NASA NTRS1991

The physical properties of double degenerate common proper motion binaries

Spectral types and spectrophotometry are presented for 21 double degenerate (DD) common proper motion binaries, along with estimates of their colors, absolute visual and bolometric magnitudes, and cooling ages. The oldest pairs in the sample are 9 x 10 to the 9th yr; the differential cooling ages range from 0.01 to 0.84. The median and mean separations of the DD pairs are 426 and 407 Au, respectively, both apparently smaller than the WD+MS values. The average UVW motions and velocity dispersions are significantly larger than the average velocities and dispersions associated with selected samples of single white dwarfs and MS+WD binaries when the latter are restricted to the same color/Mv range as the DD systems. This may be a result of the dynamical inflation of the velocity dispersion of DD systems due to their extremely ancient total stellar ages.

Sion, Edward M.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Coincidence probabilities for spacecraft gravitational wave experiments - Massive coalescing binaries

Massive coalescing binary systems are candidate sources of gravitational radiation in the millihertz frequency band accessible to spacecraft Doppler tracking experiments. This paper discusses signal processing and detection probability for waves from coalescing binaries in the regime where the signal frequency increases linearly with time, i.e., 'chirp' signals. Using known noise statistics, thresholds with given false alarm probabilities are established for one- and two-spacecraft experiments. Given the threshold, the detection probability is calculated as a function of gravitational wave amplitude for both one- and two-spacecraft experiments, assuming random polarization states and under various assumptions about wave directions. This allows quantitative statements about the detection efficiency of these experiments and the utility of coincidence experiments. In particular, coincidence probabilities for two-spacecraft experiments are insensitive to the angle between the directions to the two spacecraft, indicating that near-optical experiments can be done without constraints on spacecraft trajectories.

Tinto, Massimo↗

NASA NTRS1991

IUE investigation of mass flow in the interacting binary U Sagittae

Fifteen far-UV and 13 mid-UV high-resolution spectra of the interacting Algol-type binary U Sagittae have been obtained with the IUE satellite. The resonance lines of Si IV and C IV are present in absorption of moderate strength at all phases. At several phases, weak absorption due to the N V resonance lines is present. The high-temperature pseudophotospheric region which is found surrounding the equatorial regions of the primary star in all active Algol-type binaries is present in U Sge, indicating that it is not as dormant as once believed. This is also consistent with recent ground-based studies.

Mccluskey, George E., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1990

An Exosat observation of spectral variability from the RS CVn binary AR Lac

The eclipsing RS CVn system AR Lac (G2IV + K0IV) has been observed continuously for one 2-day binary cycle with the Exosat observatory. Below 1 keV, a factor of two intensity modulation is seen with a flat bottomed minimum around the time of primary eclipse and a shallow dip preceeding primary eclipse. Above 1 keV, where only emission with temperatures greater than 10 exp 7 K would be detected, no orbital modulation or eclipse is seen. This suggests that the greater than 20 million degree emission comes from a large region, comparable in size to the binary separation. The modulation in the less than 1 keV lightcurve has been modeled by chi-squared fitting to X-ray bright spots and by using maximum entropy deconvolution. The lower temperature emission is found to originate in compact regions with a pressure and temperature similar to that of the flaring sun.

White, N. E.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A connection between long-term luminosity variations and orbital period changes in chromospherically active binaries

The eclipsing binary CG Cyg provides observational confirmation of three predictions made by Applegate's (1991) improvement on the theory that magnetic cycles cause the quasi-periodic orbital period changes in binaries containing a convective star. The mean brightness outside eclipse and the period vary with the same cycle length of about 50 yr. The light curve and O - C curve are in phase, with maximum light and period increase occurring in early 1980. The chromospherically active star becomes bluer in phase with the brightening. Because a period increase occurs at maximum brightness, the sense of the star's differential rotation is specified: outside rotating faster.

Hall, Douglas S.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Gas flow and generation of x ray emission in WR+OB binaries

The supersonic flow of the ionized gas in WR+OB binaries and X-ray generation are considered. X-ray emission is caused by gas heating up to temperatures of 10(exp 7) to 10(exp 8) K behind the front of shock waves. These are found in the collision of gas flowing out from the WR star with either the OB star's surface or the gas of the OB star's wind. The distribution of temperature and concentration behind the shock front are obtained. Using these distributions, the spectral power of bremsstrahlung X-ray emission of hot gas is calculated. Possible reasons that lead to a considerable difference between the observed parameters of X-ray emission of the WR binary of V 444 Cygni and the theoretically expected are discussed.

Usov, V. V.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A luminous X-ray binary in M82

Optical CCD imaging at the position of a bright X-ray point source just off the visible disk of the nearby irregular galaxy M82 constrain it to be an X-ray binary with a 0.2-4 keV X-ray luminosity of not less than 9 x 10 exp 38 ergs/sec. Assuming that the X-ray emission is due to a single object, then by asumming an Eddington limit appropriate for pure electron scattering, this luminosity requires a minimum primary mass of not less than 15 solar masses; thus, this X-ray source is a black hole candidate. If the brightest optical object detected inside the X-ray error circle at B about 22.2 is the secondary to the X-ray emitter, it is most likely an early type star making this system the most luminous massive X-ray binary system known.

Stocke, John T.↗

NASA NTRS1991

IUE spectra of the eclipsing binary NN Serpentis

Low-resolution SWP and LWP IUE spectra are used to fit the temperature and angular radius of the white dwarf in the detached eclipsing binary NN Ser. It is found that the redenning to the system has E(B-V) of 0.05 +/-0.05, the white dwarf temperature is 60,000 +/-10,000 K, and the age of the white dwarf is less than 10 exp 7. The shape of eclipse and the K-magnitude of the secondary star are used to constrain the inclination of the binary and the masses and radii of the two stars. The size of the secondary star relative to its Roche lobe and the age of the white dwarf indicate that mass transfer has not yet occurred and that the system is a precataclysmic variable rather than a cataclysmic variable which has entered the period gap. Fitting the observed magnitude of the sinusoidal modulation with a reprocessing model shows that only when i is approximately equal to 90 deg is the required temperature of the secondary star consistent with these results. For this solution the white dwarf temperature is also consistent with those obtained from the IUE spectra.

Wood, Janet H.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Doublet craters and the tidal disruption of binary asteroids

An evaluation is conducted of the possibility that the tidal disruption of a population of contact binary asteroids can account for terrestrial-impact 'doublet' craters. Detailed orbital integrations indicate that while such asteroids are often disrupted by tidal forces outside the Roche limit, the magnitude of the resulting separations is too small to account for the observed doublet craters. It is hypothesized that an initial population of km-scale earth-crossing objects encompassing 10-20 percent binaries must be responsible for doublet impacts, as may be verified by future observations of earth-approaching asteroids.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

On the nature of the symbiotic binary AX Persei

Photometric and spectroscopic observations of the symbiotic binary AX Persei are presented. This system contains a red giant that fills its tidal lobe and transfers material into an accretion disk surrounding a low-mass main-sequence star. The stellar masses - 1 solar mass for the red giant and about 0.4 solar mass for the companion - suggest AX Per is poised to enter a common envelope phase of evolution. The disk luminosity increases from L(disk) about 100 solar luminosity in quiescence to L(disk) about 5700 solar luminosity in outburst for a distance of d = 2.5 kpc. Except for visual maximum, high ionization permitted emission lines - such as He II - imply an EUV luminosity comparable to the disk luminosity. High-energy photons emitted by a hot boundary layer between the disk and central star ionize a surrounding nebula to produce this permitted line emission. High ionization forbidden lines form in an extended, shock-excited region well out of the binary's orbital plane and may be associated with mass loss from the disk.

Mikolajewska, Joanna↗

NASA NTRS1992

Colliding winds from early-type stars in binary systems

The dynamics of the wind and shock structure formed by the wind collision in early-type binary systems is examined by means of a 2D hydrodynamics code, which self-consistently accounts for radiative cooling, and represents a significant improvement over previous attempts to model these systems. The X-ray luminosity and spectra of the shock-heated region, accounting for wind attenuation and the influence of different abundances on the resultant level and spectra of X-ray emission are calculated. A variety of dynamical instabilities that are found to dominate the intershock region is examined. These instabilities are found to be particularly important when postshock material is able to cool. These instabilities disrupt the postshock flow and add a time variability of order 10 percent to the X-ray luminosity. The X-ray spectrum of these systems is found to vary with the nuclear abundances of winds. These theoretical models are used to study several massive binary systems, in particular V444 Cyg and HD 193793.

Stevens, Ian R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

On the power spectra of the wind-fed X-ray binary pulsar GX 301 - 2

A phenomenological model of accretion which is applied to the wind-fed X-ray binary pulsar GX 301 - 2 is developed, assuming that the accretion onto the neutron star does not occur from a continuous flux of plasma, but from blobs of matter which are threaded by the magnetic field lines onto the magnetic polar caps of the neutron star. These 'lumps' are produced at the magnetospheric limit by magnetohydrodynamical instability, introducing a 'noise' in the accretion process, due to the discontinuity in the flux of matter onto the neutron star. This model is able to describe the change of slope observed in the continuum component of the power spectra of the X-ray binary pulsar GX 301 - 2, in the frequency range 0.01 - 0.1 Hz. The physical properties of the infalling blobs derived in the model are in agreement with the constraints imposed by observations.

Orlandini, Mauro↗

NASA NTRS1992

An astrometric study of the Mira variable R Leonis and the occultation binary 19 Leonis

The Multichannel Astrometric Photometer (MAP) was used to determine parallaxes of stars in the region centered on the Mira variable R Leonis. R Leonis, with a parallax of 8.3 +/- 1.0 mas (120 +/- 15 pc), is significantly closer than most recent estimates. At visual wavelengths, its mean physical diameter is 612 +/- 96 times that of the sun. The photocentric motion of R Leonis is not suggestive of either optical or orbital companions, excluding possible secondary components over a wide range of magnitudes as well as orbital periods of up to approximately one decade. Nineteen Leonis, an occultation-speckle binary with a well-determined orbit and a reference star in the R Leonis field, has a distance of 92.6 +/- 12 pc. The 15.2 yr period binary exhibits a slight perturbation during the 4 yr of MAP observations. The similar primary and secondary of this A7 Vn system are 2.41 +/- 0.96 and 2.31 +/- 0.92 solar masses, respectively.

Gatewood, George↗

NASA NTRS1992

Radio continuum and X-ray properties of the coronae of RS Canum Venaticorum and related active binary systems

Data from circular polarization measurements are reported which yield radio-continuum and X-ray characterizations of the coronae of active binaries including RS CVn. The circular polarization measurements are taken at 6 cm for 28 binary systems detected at flux densities of more than 0.7 mJy, and the data are examined in conjunction with those by Drake et al. (1989). Optical positions are derived for 8 RS CVn objects, three previous detections are confirmed, and seven sources are shown to have circular polarization at levels of 2-13 percent. A total of 49 X-ray sources are confirmed in a total of 190 positions, and the correlation between X-ray and radio emissions is analyzed. No observational evidence exists to support the notion that radio and X-ray emissions are due to nonthermal electrons, and the data provide evidence for and against thermal gyrosynchrotron radio emission.

Drake, Stephen A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Long-term variability in low-mass X-ray binaries - A study using data from Vela 5B

A complete sample of low-mass X-ray binaries in uncrowded fields obtained from Vela 5B is studied here for periodic and aperiodic time variability on time scales of more than one day. The strong 176-day periodicity in X1820 - 303 is confirmed, and evidence is found for a significant 77-day period in Cyg X-2 and for variability on time scales of less than about 200 days in Cyg X-3. Limits are set on the possible amplitude of candidate periodicities in the literature for Ser X-1 and X0614 + 091. The evidence reported here suggests that while long-term cyclic variability is common among high-mass binaries, it is a rare occurrence in low-mass systems.

Smale, Alan P.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Dynamics of binary and planetary-system interaction with disks - Eccentricity changes

Protostellar and protoplanetary systems, as well as merging galactic nuclei, often interact tidally and resonantly with the astrophysical disks via gravity. Underlying our understanding of the formation processes of stars, planets, and some galaxies is a dynamical theory of such interactions. Its main goals are to determine the geometry of the binary-disk system and, through the torque calculations, the rate of change of orbital elements of the components. We present some recent developments in this field concentrating on eccentricity driving mechanisms in protoplanetary and protobinary systems. In those two types of systems the result of the interaction is opposite. A small body embedded in a disk suffers a decrease of orbital eccentricity, whereas newly formed binary stars surrounded by protostellar disks may undergo a significant orbital evolution increasing their eccentricities.

Atrymowicz, Pawel↗

NASA NTRS1992

Populations of low-mass black hole binaries

The evolution of a population of massive binaries with low-mass secondaries is considered by contrasting the fate of black hole-producing systems with those leaving neutron stars. It is found that the interacting black hole binaries may be even more common than the familiar neutron star LMXBs. Certain unusual expected systems are described, and a comparison with present observations is made to determine the accuracy of predictions of this scenario.

Romani, Roger W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Tidal interactions of inspiraling compact binaries

We discuss the tidal interaction in neutron star-neutron star and neutron star-black hole binaries and argue that they will not be tidally locked during the gravitational inspiral. More specifically, we show that, for inspiraling neutron stars of mass greater than about 1.2 solar mass, the shortest possible tidal synchronization time exceeds the gravitational decay time, so that the neutron star cannot be tidally locked prior to tidal disruption, regardless of its internal viscosity. For smaller mass neutron stars, an implausibly large kinematic viscosity - nearly the speed of light times the stellar radius - is required for tidal locking. We also argue that the mass transfer which occurs when the neutron star reaches the tidal radius will be unstable in neutron star-black hole binaries, and the instability will destroy the neutron star in a few orbital periods. The implications of our work for the detection of these sources by LIGO and other gravitational wave observatories and for the gamma-ray burst scenarios of Paczynski (1986, 1991) are discussed.

Bildsten, Lars↗