MINING PLANET SEARCH DATA FOR BINARY STARS: THE ψ{sup 1} DRACONIS SYSTEM
Several planet-search groups have acquired a great deal of data in the form of time-series spectra of several hundred nearby stars with time baselines of over a decade. While binary star detections are generally not the goal of these long-term monitoring efforts, the binary stars hiding in existing planet search data are precisely the type that are too close to the primary star to detect with imaging or interferometry techniques. We use a cross-correlation analysis to detect the spectral lines of a new low-mass companion to ψ{sup 1} Draconis A, which has a known roughly equal-mass companion at ∼680 AU. We measure the mass of ψ{sup 1} Draconis C as M{sub 2} = 0.70 ± 0.07M{sub ⊙}, with an orbital period of ∼20 years. This technique could be used to characterize binary companions to many stars that show large-amplitude modulation or linear trends in radial velocity data.
- OSTI ID:
- 22521790
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 815, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
THE GEMINI NICI PLANET-FINDING CAMPAIGN: THE FREQUENCY OF GIANT PLANETS AROUND YOUNG B AND A STARS
Two new long-period giant planets from the McDonald Observatory planet search and two stars with long-period radial velocity signals related to stellar activity cycles