The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries
- Autores
- Burkholder, Valorie; Massey, Philip; Morrell, Nidia Irene
- Año de publicación
- 1997
- Idioma
- inglés
- Tipo de recurso
- artículo
- Estado
- versión publicada
- Descripción
- Stellar evolutionary models are often used to infer a star's mass via its luminosity, but empirical checks on the accuracy of the theoretical mass-luminosity relation for very massive stars have been lacking. This is of particular concern given that modern atmosphere models yield systematically smaller masses for massive stars than do evolutionary models, with the discrepancy being a factor of 2 for Of stars. We attempt to resolve this mass discrepancy by obtaining new, high-resolution optical data on seven early-type spectroscopic binaries: V453 Cyg, HD 191201, V382 Cyg, Y Cyg, HD 206267, DH Cep, and AH Cep. Our study produces improved spectral subtypes for the components of these systems, which are crucial for evaluating their luminosities and locations in the H-R diagram. Our radial velocity study utilizes a measuring method that explicitly accounts for the effects of pair blending. We combine our new orbit solutions with existing data on inclinations and distances when available to compare the orbital masses with evolutionary models, and we find good agreement in all cases where the stars are noninteracting. (The components of V382 Cyg and DH Cep fill their Roche lobes, and in both cases we find masses substantially lower than the masses inferred from evolutionary tracks, suggesting that significant material has been lost rather than transferred. We confirm that this same trend exists for other systems drawn from the literature.) Our own data extends to only 15 M☉, although photometric inclination determinations for HD 191201 and HD 206267 should prove possible and will provide examples of higher mass systems. We briefly discuss suitable systems from the literature and conclude that orbit solutions provide good agreement with the evolutionary models to 25 M☉. Beyond this, most known binaries either fill their Roche lobes or have other complications. We also discuss five systems for which our improved data and analysis failed to yield acceptable orbit solutions: EO Aur, IU Aur, V640 Mon (Plaskett's star), LY Aur, and 29 UW CMa all remained intractable, despite improved data.
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas - Materia
-
Astronomía
binaries: spectroscopic
stars: early-type
stars: evolution
stars: fundamental parameters - Nivel de accesibilidad
- acceso abierto
- Condiciones de uso
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Repositorio
- Institución
- Universidad Nacional de La Plata
- OAI Identificador
- oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/140829
Ver los metadatos del registro completo
id |
SEDICI_f03a36a2cf30f030e4e81e43ae793514 |
---|---|
oai_identifier_str |
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/140829 |
network_acronym_str |
SEDICI |
repository_id_str |
1329 |
network_name_str |
SEDICI (UNLP) |
spelling |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic BinariesBurkholder, ValorieMassey, PhilipMorrell, Nidia IreneAstronomíabinaries: spectroscopicstars: early-typestars: evolutionstars: fundamental parametersStellar evolutionary models are often used to infer a star's mass via its luminosity, but empirical checks on the accuracy of the theoretical mass-luminosity relation for very massive stars have been lacking. This is of particular concern given that modern atmosphere models yield systematically smaller masses for massive stars than do evolutionary models, with the discrepancy being a factor of 2 for Of stars. We attempt to resolve this mass discrepancy by obtaining new, high-resolution optical data on seven early-type spectroscopic binaries: V453 Cyg, HD 191201, V382 Cyg, Y Cyg, HD 206267, DH Cep, and AH Cep. Our study produces improved spectral subtypes for the components of these systems, which are crucial for evaluating their luminosities and locations in the H-R diagram. Our radial velocity study utilizes a measuring method that explicitly accounts for the effects of pair blending. We combine our new orbit solutions with existing data on inclinations and distances when available to compare the orbital masses with evolutionary models, and we find good agreement in all cases where the stars are noninteracting. (The components of V382 Cyg and DH Cep fill their Roche lobes, and in both cases we find masses substantially lower than the masses inferred from evolutionary tracks, suggesting that significant material has been lost rather than transferred. We confirm that this same trend exists for other systems drawn from the literature.) Our own data extends to only 15 M☉, although photometric inclination determinations for HD 191201 and HD 206267 should prove possible and will provide examples of higher mass systems. We briefly discuss suitable systems from the literature and conclude that orbit solutions provide good agreement with the evolutionary models to 25 M☉. Beyond this, most known binaries either fill their Roche lobes or have other complications. We also discuss five systems for which our improved data and analysis failed to yield acceptable orbit solutions: EO Aur, IU Aur, V640 Mon (Plaskett's star), LY Aur, and 29 UW CMa all remained intractable, despite improved data.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas1997-11-20info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdf328-342http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/140829enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0004-637Xinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1538-4357info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1086/304852info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:31:53Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/140829Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:31:53.369SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries |
title |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries |
spellingShingle |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries Burkholder, Valorie Astronomía binaries: spectroscopic stars: early-type stars: evolution stars: fundamental parameters |
title_short |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries |
title_full |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries |
title_fullStr |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries |
title_full_unstemmed |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries |
title_sort |
The “Mass Discrepancy” for Massive Stars: Tests of Models Using Spectroscopic Binaries |
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Burkholder, Valorie Massey, Philip Morrell, Nidia Irene |
author |
Burkholder, Valorie |
author_facet |
Burkholder, Valorie Massey, Philip Morrell, Nidia Irene |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Massey, Philip Morrell, Nidia Irene |
author2_role |
author author |
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Astronomía binaries: spectroscopic stars: early-type stars: evolution stars: fundamental parameters |
topic |
Astronomía binaries: spectroscopic stars: early-type stars: evolution stars: fundamental parameters |
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv |
Stellar evolutionary models are often used to infer a star's mass via its luminosity, but empirical checks on the accuracy of the theoretical mass-luminosity relation for very massive stars have been lacking. This is of particular concern given that modern atmosphere models yield systematically smaller masses for massive stars than do evolutionary models, with the discrepancy being a factor of 2 for Of stars. We attempt to resolve this mass discrepancy by obtaining new, high-resolution optical data on seven early-type spectroscopic binaries: V453 Cyg, HD 191201, V382 Cyg, Y Cyg, HD 206267, DH Cep, and AH Cep. Our study produces improved spectral subtypes for the components of these systems, which are crucial for evaluating their luminosities and locations in the H-R diagram. Our radial velocity study utilizes a measuring method that explicitly accounts for the effects of pair blending. We combine our new orbit solutions with existing data on inclinations and distances when available to compare the orbital masses with evolutionary models, and we find good agreement in all cases where the stars are noninteracting. (The components of V382 Cyg and DH Cep fill their Roche lobes, and in both cases we find masses substantially lower than the masses inferred from evolutionary tracks, suggesting that significant material has been lost rather than transferred. We confirm that this same trend exists for other systems drawn from the literature.) Our own data extends to only 15 M☉, although photometric inclination determinations for HD 191201 and HD 206267 should prove possible and will provide examples of higher mass systems. We briefly discuss suitable systems from the literature and conclude that orbit solutions provide good agreement with the evolutionary models to 25 M☉. Beyond this, most known binaries either fill their Roche lobes or have other complications. We also discuss five systems for which our improved data and analysis failed to yield acceptable orbit solutions: EO Aur, IU Aur, V640 Mon (Plaskett's star), LY Aur, and 29 UW CMa all remained intractable, despite improved data. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas |
description |
Stellar evolutionary models are often used to infer a star's mass via its luminosity, but empirical checks on the accuracy of the theoretical mass-luminosity relation for very massive stars have been lacking. This is of particular concern given that modern atmosphere models yield systematically smaller masses for massive stars than do evolutionary models, with the discrepancy being a factor of 2 for Of stars. We attempt to resolve this mass discrepancy by obtaining new, high-resolution optical data on seven early-type spectroscopic binaries: V453 Cyg, HD 191201, V382 Cyg, Y Cyg, HD 206267, DH Cep, and AH Cep. Our study produces improved spectral subtypes for the components of these systems, which are crucial for evaluating their luminosities and locations in the H-R diagram. Our radial velocity study utilizes a measuring method that explicitly accounts for the effects of pair blending. We combine our new orbit solutions with existing data on inclinations and distances when available to compare the orbital masses with evolutionary models, and we find good agreement in all cases where the stars are noninteracting. (The components of V382 Cyg and DH Cep fill their Roche lobes, and in both cases we find masses substantially lower than the masses inferred from evolutionary tracks, suggesting that significant material has been lost rather than transferred. We confirm that this same trend exists for other systems drawn from the literature.) Our own data extends to only 15 M☉, although photometric inclination determinations for HD 191201 and HD 206267 should prove possible and will provide examples of higher mass systems. We briefly discuss suitable systems from the literature and conclude that orbit solutions provide good agreement with the evolutionary models to 25 M☉. Beyond this, most known binaries either fill their Roche lobes or have other complications. We also discuss five systems for which our improved data and analysis failed to yield acceptable orbit solutions: EO Aur, IU Aur, V640 Mon (Plaskett's star), LY Aur, and 29 UW CMa all remained intractable, despite improved data. |
publishDate |
1997 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
1997-11-20 |
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Articulo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/140829 |
url |
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/140829 |
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0004-637X info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1538-4357 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1086/304852 |
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf 328-342 |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:SEDICI (UNLP) instname:Universidad Nacional de La Plata instacron:UNLP |
reponame_str |
SEDICI (UNLP) |
collection |
SEDICI (UNLP) |
instname_str |
Universidad Nacional de La Plata |
instacron_str |
UNLP |
institution |
UNLP |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
alira@sedici.unlp.edu.ar |
_version_ |
1844616198708264960 |
score |
13.070432 |