An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics · Problem 7.5

The Classification of Stellar Spectra — Carroll & Ostlie

Physics — Astrophysics · spectroscopic-binary-zeta-phe

Problem

ζ\zeta Phe is a 1.67-day spectroscopic binary with nearly circular orbits. The maximum measured Doppler shifts of the brighter and fainter components of the system are 121.4121.4 km s−1^{-1} and 247247 km s−1^{-1}, respectively. ((a)) Determine the quantity msin⁡3im \sin^3 i for each star. ((b)) Using a statistically chosen value for sin⁡3i\sin^3 i that takes into consideration the Doppler-shift selection effect, estimate the individual masses of the components of ζ\zeta Phe.

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