The programme "accurate masses for SB2 components"

TL;DR

This paper describes a program to derive highly accurate stellar masses for SB2 binary stars using spectroscopic, interferometric, and astrometric data, aiming to improve stellar models with upcoming Gaia measurements.

Contribution

The study combines spectroscopic, interferometric, and astrometric data to derive precise masses and parallaxes for SB2 binaries, enhancing the accuracy of stellar parameters.

Findings

Accurate SB2 orbits were derived for 24 stars.

Combined visual binary and SB2 solutions obtained for 7 binaries.

Parallax measurements confirmed the high quality of Hipparcos 2 data.

Abstract

Accurate stellar masses are requested in order to improve our understanding of stellar interiors, but they are still rather rare. Fortunately, the forthcoming Gaia Mission will provide astrometric measurements permitting the derivation of the orbital inclinations of nearby binaries which are also observed as double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s) with ground-based telescopes. A programme of radial velocity (RV) measurements was initiated in 2010 with the Sophie spectrograph of the Haute-Provence observatory in order to derive accurate SB2 orbits for a large set of stars. Therefore, combined SB2+astrometric orbits will be derived thanks to Gaia, and masses with errors around 1~\% are expected for both components. The programme includes 70 SB2s, and the accurate SB2 orbits of 24 of them were already derived. In addition, two complementary programmes devoted to southern stars or to late-type dwarf stars were also initiated with the HERMES and the CARMENES spectrographs, respectively. Interferometric measurements were obained with the VLTI/PIONIER for 7 SB2s, and were taken from other sources for 4 others. Currently, combined "visual binary" (VB) +SB2 solutions were derived for 7 binaries, leading to the masses of the components and to the parallaxes. The parallaxes from the Hipparcos 2 catalogue were corrected for orbital motion and compared to our solution, confirming the high quality of Hipparcos 2.