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Title: ABSOLUTE DIMENSIONS OF THE G7+K7 ECLIPSING BINARY STAR IM VIRGINIS: DISCREPANCIES WITH STELLAR EVOLUTION MODELS

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
 [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Edif. Nexus, C/Gran Capita, 2-4, 08034 Barcelona (Spain)
  2. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics, Gettysburg College, 300 North Washington Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325 (United States)

We report extensive spectroscopic and differential photometric BVRI observations of the active, detached, 1.309-day double-lined eclipsing binary IM Vir, composed of a G7-type primary and a K7 secondary. With these observations, we derive accurate absolute masses and radii of M {sub 1} = 0.981 +- 0.012 M {sub sun}, M {sub 2} = 0.6644 +- 0.0048 M {sub sun}, R {sub 1} = 1.061 +- 0.016 R {sub sun}, and R {sub 2} = 0.681 +- 0.013 R {sub sun} for the primary and secondary, with relative errors under 2%. The effective temperatures are 5570 +- 100 K and 4250 +- 130 K, respectively. The significant difference in mass makes this a favorable case for comparison with stellar evolution theory. We find that both stars are larger than the models predict, by 3.7% for the primary and 7.5% for the secondary, as well as cooler than expected, by 100 K and 150 K, respectively. These discrepancies are in line with previously reported differences in low-mass stars, and are believed to be caused by chromospheric activity, which is not accounted for in current models. The effect is not confined to low-mass stars: the rapidly rotating primary of IM Vir joins the growing list of objects of near-solar mass (but still with convective envelopes) that show similar anomalies. The comparison with the models suggests an age of 2.4 Gyr for the system, and a metallicity of [Fe/H] approx-0.3 that is consistent with other indications, but requires confirmation.

OSTI ID:
21389288
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 707, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/707/1/671; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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