Markov Chain Monte Carlo applied to the Double Stars of Miller and Pitman

TL;DR

This paper applies Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to fit orbital models to 27 double star systems, estimating parameters and masses with uncertainties, and validating the approach against existing data and catalogs.

Contribution

It introduces a MCMC-based approach for orbital parameter estimation of double stars, providing uncertainty quantification and validation against previous studies.

Findings

Mass estimates agree with recent studies.

Orbital parameters are consistent with catalog data.

Method confirms validity of MCMC for orbital fitting.

Abstract

Model orbits have been fitted to 27 physical double stars listed in a 1922 catalogue. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique was applied to estimate best fitting values and associated uncertainties for the orbital parameters. Dynamical masses were calculated using parallaxes from the Hipparcos mission, and are presented in this paper together with the estimates of the orbital parameters for the 27 systems. The resulting mass estimates of the current study are in good agreement with a recently published study, as are comparisons with the orbital parameters listed by the Washington Double Star catalog, confirming the validity of the optimisation methodology