IMAGING THE ALGOL TRIPLE SYSTEM IN THE H BAND WITH THE CHARA INTERFEROMETER
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 918 Dennison Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1090 (United States)
- European South Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei Muenchen (Germany)
- Department of Astronomy, Penn State University, 420 Davey Lab State College, PA 16803 (United States)
- The CHARA Array of Georgia State University, Mount Wilson, CA 91023 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302-3965 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews (United Kingdom)
Algol ({beta} Per) is an extensively studied hierarchical triple system whose inner pair is a prototype semi-detached binary with mass transfer occurring from the sub-giant secondary to the main-sequence primary. We present here the results of our Algol observations made between 2006 and 2010 at the CHARA interferometer with the Michigan Infrared Combiner in the H-band. The use of four telescopes with long baselines allows us to achieve better than 0.5 mas resolution and to unambiguously resolve the three stars. The inner and outer orbital elements, as well as the angular sizes and mass ratios for the three components, are determined independently from previous studies. We report a significantly improved orbit for the inner stellar pair with the consequence of a 15% change in the primary mass compared with previous studies. We also determine the mutual inclination of the orbits to be much closer to perpendicularity than previously established. State-of-the-art image reconstruction algorithms are used to image the full triple system. In particular an image sequence of 55 distinct phases of the inner pair orbit is reconstructed, clearly showing the Roche-lobe-filling secondary revolving around the primary, with several epochs corresponding to the primary and secondary eclipses.
- OSTI ID:
- 22037113
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 752, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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