Margaret Pan — Page 2

arXiv2003

A generalization of the Lagrangian points: studies of resonance for highly eccentric orbits

We develop a framework based on energy kicks for the evolution of high-eccentricity long-period orbits with Jacobi constant close to 3 in the restricted circular planar three-body problem where the secondary and primary masses have mass ratio mu << 1. We use this framework to explore mean-motion resonances between the test particle and the secondary mass. This approach leads to (i) a redefinition of resonance orders to reflect the importance of interactions at periapse; (ii) a pendulum-like equation describing the librations of resonance orbits; (iii) an analogy between these new fixed points and the Lagrangian points as well as between librations around the fixed points and the well known tadpole and horseshoe orbits; (iv) a condition a ~ mu^(-2/5) for the onset of chaos at large semimajor axis a; (v) the existence of a range mu < ~5 x 10^(-6) in secondary mass for which a test particle initially close to the secondary cannot escape from the system, at least in the planar problem; (vi) a simple explanation for the presence of asymmetric librations in exterior 1:N resonances.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

An interferometric-spectroscopic orbit for the binary HD 195987: Testing models of stellar evolution for metal-poor stars

We report spectroscopic and interferometric observations of the moderately metal-poor double-lined binary system HD 195987, with an orbital period of 57.3 days. By combining our radial-velocity and visibility measurements we determine the orbital elements and derive absolute masses for the components of M(A) = 0.844 +/- 0.018 Msun and M(B) = 0.6650 +/- 0.0079 Msun, with relative errors of 2% and 1%, respectively. We also determine the orbital parallax, pi(orb) = 46.08 +/- 0.27 mas, corresponding to a distance of 21.70 +/- 0.13 pc. The parallax and the measured brightness difference between the stars in V, H, and K yield the component absolute magnitudes in those bands. We also estimate the effective temperatures of the stars as Teff(A) = 5200 +/- 100 K and Teff(B) = 4200 +/- 200 K. Together with detailed chemical abundance analyses from the literature giving [Fe/H] approximately -0.5 (corrected for binarity) and [alpha/Fe] = +0.36, we use these physical properties to test current models of stellar evolution for metal-poor stars. Among the four that we considered, we find that no single model fits all observed properties at the measured composition, although we identify the assumptions in each one that account for the discrepancy and we conclude that a model with the proper combination of assumptions should be able to reproduce all the radiative properties. The indications from the isochrone fits and the pattern of enhancement of the metals in HD 195987 are consistent with this being a thick disk object, with an age of 10-12 Gyr.

astro-ph↗