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Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO
Published on: February 12, 2013
RR-Lyrae-type pulsations from a 0.26-solar-mass star in a binary system.
G Pietrzyński1, I B Thompson, W Gieren
1Departamento de Astronomìa, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepciòn, Chile. pietrzyn@astrouw.edu.pl
A peculiar RR Lyrae star was found to be a low-mass object in an eclipsing binary system. This finding suggests that while rare, such binary systems can mimic true RR Lyrae stars, impacting stellar population studies.
Area of Science:
- * Astronomy and Astrophysics
- * Stellar Evolution
- * Galactic Archaeology
Background:
- * RR Lyrae stars are crucial for determining galactic ages and extragalactic distances.
- * RR Lyrae stars are typically old, low-mass pulsating stars.
- * Understanding the mass of RR Lyrae stars is essential for accurate astrophysical models.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To determine the mass of the RR Lyrae star OGLE-BLG-RRLYR-02792.
- * To investigate the evolutionary path of stars within eclipsing binary systems.
- * To assess the impact of binary systems on the use of RR Lyrae stars as distance indicators.
Main Methods:
- * Analysis of photometric data from an eclipsing binary system.
- * Stellar evolution modeling to explain observed properties.
- * Comparison of the pulsator's characteristics with classical RR Lyrae star models.
Main Results:
- * OGLE-BLG-RRLYR-02792 has a mass of 0.26 solar masses, inconsistent with classical RR Lyrae stars.
- * The system's properties are explained by the evolution of a binary system with initial masses of 1.0 M☉ and 0.8 M☉.
- * The observed pulsator is in a short-lived phase mimicking RR Lyrae stars due to mass exchange.
Conclusions:
- * The studied object is not a classical RR Lyrae star but an evolved binary system.
- * Binary interlopers are estimated to contaminate only 0.2% of RR Lyrae stars.
- * Distances derived from RR Lyrae stars are unlikely to be significantly affected by such binary systems.
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