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Brightness
(arbitrary units)
Idealised light curve showing the eclipses (for the authors actual graph, follow the link above):
0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6 30
0.8
5
Other Data: G = 6.67 1011N m2 kg2 ;Solar mass
,
M
=
1.989
10
kg;
Solar
M2
d3
d
; Centre of mass: r1
M1 M 2
G(M 1 M 2 )
In the questions that follow, well assume that the system is viewed edge on and that the orbits of the two
stars (A and B) in the system are circular.
Questions.
1. Find the distance between the two stars in this system. [Use the period and speed of the orbit of each
star to find its orbital radius. How is the separation of the stars found from these orbital radii?]
2.
Determine star As fraction of the total mass of the system. [Hint: Use the equation for centre of
mass]
3.
By calculating the total mass of the system, shows that the 40% figure for both stellar masses, given
in the passage, is approximately correct.
4.
Use the graph of brightness to estimate the radii of the two stars. Assume that the radii are
approximately equal. You will need to estimate the total eclipse time from the brightness graph.
Hint: The dip in brightness happens when one star passes behind the other.
vA
A
B
vB
Express your radii in terms of R and compare your answer with that given in the passage.
5.
6.
The paper by Stassun gives the overall effective temperature of the star system as 3500 K. Taking
this as the temperature of the brighter component, use the 10% figure in the passage and the factor of
2 in the brightness, estimate the temperature of the fainter component and compare your figure with
the information in the passage.
G S Kelly
2 December 2008