Stellar Astrophysics with a Dispersed Fourier Transform Spectrograph. II. Orbits of Double-lined Spectroscopic Binaries

TL;DR

This paper reports precise orbital parameters for several double-lined spectroscopic binaries and triples using a novel dispersed Fourier Transform Spectrograph, enabling highly accurate stellar mass measurements.

Contribution

It introduces the use of a dispersed Fourier Transform Spectrograph for high-precision radial velocity measurements of binary stars.

Findings

Orbital parameters for six binary and two triple star systems.

Masses of stellar components determined with errors as low as 0.2%.

Demonstration of the dFTS instrument's effectiveness for stellar astrophysics.

Abstract

We present orbital parameters for six double-lined spectroscopic binaries (iota Pegasi, omega Draconis, 12 Bootis, V1143 Cygni, beta Aurigae, and Mizar A) and two double-lined triple star systems (kappa Pegasi and eta Virginis). The orbital fits are based upon high-precision radial velocity observations made with a dispersed Fourier Transform Spectrograph, or dFTS, a new instrument which combines interferometric and dispersive elements. For some of the double-lined binaries with known inclination angles, the quality of our RV data permits us to determine the masses M_1 and M_2 of the stellar components with relative errors as small as 0.2%.