Ben Montet
By analyzing the spectrum of a star, the temperature, surface gravity, and abundance of heavy elements can be measured. However, for the vast majority of stars, the stellar mass and radius are not directly observable. Instead, they must be inferred by combining these direct observables with theoretical stellar models. Models faithfully reproduce the fundamental parameters of sunlike stars, but are poorly calibrated for stars with masses or ages considerably different than the Sun. Two different models can often predict masses different by a factor of two for stars that are young (less than 100 million years old) and low-mass (smaller than 50% the mass of the Sun).
To better calibrate stellar models, we need a collection of benchmark stars with directly measured masses. The most efficient way to measure masses is to observe the orbits of binary stars. In a binary system, the total mass depends on the orbital period and physical separation between the two stars, both of which are directly observable.
This figure comes from a proposal to directly measure orbital periods of young, low-mass binaries. The top subfigure shows the relative orbit of the two stars in the GJ4185Aab system. The fainter, “secondary” star orbits counterclockwise around the brighter, “primary” star as viewed from Earth. There are currently three observations of this binary system from 2011 and 2012. The blue curves represent possible orbits of the secondary, plotted by drawing samples from the posterior distribution of each orbital element. In fall 2015, there is a large uncertainty in the relative positions of the two stars. Each white circle represents the location of the secondary star along one of the possible orbits in November, 2015. Selecting one observation, we then show possible orbits of the secondary after this additional hypothetical data point.
The spread in possible orbits is considerably larger than the typical uncertainty in each data point, so an additional observation will provide a significant improvement on the measured period. The lower right subfigure shows the observed period posterior distribution before and after adding the additional data point. With the additional point, the uncertainty in the period is reduced by a factor of 5!
Once we have the total mass, we can collect radial velocity (RV) observations to measure the mass ratio, and thus the individual mass of each star (lower left). The RV of each star changes during the orbit as a function of the position of the star and its mass. (The data point shows the typical uncertainty in one observation.) Once the orbit is characterized (red, as previously) the variation in RV is dominated by the uncertainty in the individual mass of each star. However, with the current data only (blue) the uncertainty in the orbit contributes significantly to the scatter in the RVs, making RV observations less useful. Therefore, an additional imaging observation is essential both to characterize the orbit of the binary to measure the total mass, and to be able to eventually measure individual masses.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.rcParams['axes.linewidth']=2
plt.rc('xtick.major', size=7, pad=7)
plt.rc('xtick.minor', size=4, pad=5)
plt.rc('ytick.major', size=7, pad=7)
plt.rc('ytick.minor', size=4, pad=5)
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(18,13))
plt.gcf().subplots_adjust(bottom=0.15, wspace=0.15, hspace=0.3, top=0.95, right=0.95, left=0.1)
yr = 3.1557926e7
G = 6.673e-8
Msun = 1.989e33
p = np.pi
datvals = np.loadtxt('data5.txt', usecols=[0,1,2,3,4])
tplot = np.linspace(2010, 2015, 200)
time = datvals[:,0]
septrue = datvals[:,1]
seperr = datvals[:,2]
postrue = datvals[:,3]
poserr = datvals[:,4]
Xtrue = septrue*np.cos(postrue*p/180)
Ytrue = septrue*np.sin(postrue*p/180)
Xerr = np.sqrt((seperr*np.cos(postrue*p/180))**2 +
(septrue*np.sin(postrue*p/180)*poserr*p/180)**2)
Yerr = np.sqrt((seperr*np.sin(postrue*p/180))**2 +
(septrue*np.cos(postrue*p/180)*poserr*p/180)**2)
def calculate_E(e,M):
E = np.zeros(len(M))
prec = 1e-5
right_side = M + e*np.sin(E)
iv = np.where(np.abs(E - right_side) > prec)[0]
E[iv] = M[iv] + np.sin(M[iv])*e + 0.5*e*e*np.sin(2.0*M[iv])
En = E + 0.0
F = E - e*np.sin(E) - M
while len(iv) > 0:
E = E - F/(1.0-(e*np.cos(E)))
F = E - e*np.sin(E) - M
iv = np.where(np.abs(F) > prec)[0]
E = np.mod(E, 2*p)
return E
def calcrv(arrvals, times, flag):
ecos, esin, tp, period, totmass, inc, Comega, dist = arrvals
ecc = ecos**2 + esin**2
w = np.arctan2(esin, ecos)
M = np.mod(2*p*(times-tp)/period, 2*p)
E = calculate_E(ecc, M)
tanf2 = (np.sqrt((1+ecc)/(1-ecc))*np.tan(E/2))
f = 2*np.arctan(tanf2)
K12 = (2*p*G/period/yr)**(1./3) * (totmass*Msun)**(1./3) * np.sin(inc) / np.sqrt(1-ecc**2) / 1e5
RV12 = K12 * (np.cos(f+w) + ecc*np.cos(w))
if flag == 1:
print K12
plt.plot(times, RV12)
return RV12
def calcorbit(arrvals, times, flag):
ecos, esin, tp, period, totmass, inc, Comega, dist = arrvals
ecc = ecos**2 + esin**2
w = np.arctan2(esin, ecos)
sW = np.sin(Comega)
cW = np.cos(Comega)
M = np.mod(2*p*(times-tp)/period, 2*p)
E = calculate_E(ecc, M)
tanf2 = (np.sqrt((1+ecc)/(1-ecc))*np.tan(E/2))
f = 2*np.arctan(tanf2)
a = (period**2*(totmass))**(1./3) # a in AU
r = a*(1-ecc**2)/(1+ecc*np.cos(f)) # r in AU at obs. epochs
X = r*(cW*np.cos(w + f) -(sW*np.sin(w+f)*np.cos(inc)))/dist # in arcsec
Y = r*(sW*np.cos(w + f) +(cW*np.sin(w+f)*np.cos(inc)))/dist # in arcsec
angsep = (Y**2 + X**2)**.5 * 1000.0
posang = np.arctan2(Y,X)*180/p
X *= 1000.0
Y *= 1000.0
if flag == 1:
print 'angular separation: ' + str(angsep)
print 'position angle: ' +str(posang)
return [-1*Y, X]
if __name__ == '__main__':
a = np.load('rvchains_OUT_a.npy')
b = np.load('rvchains_OUT_b.npy')
ecc = a[:,0]**2 + a[:,1]**2
ax = plt.subplot(211)
g = np.random.randint(0, len(a[:,0]), 200)
for i in g:
xval, yval = calcorbit(a[i], tplot, 0)
plt.plot(xval, yval, 'b', linewidth=1, alpha=0.03)
for i in g:
xval, yval = calcorbit(b[i], tplot, 0)
plt.plot(xval, yval, 'r', linewidth=1, alpha=0.03)
for i in g:
x2014, y2014 = calcorbit(a[i], np.array([2015.50]), 0)
plt.plot(x2014, y2014, 'w.', markersize=7, markeredgecolor='k')
arrowx = np.arange(-45, -10, 1)
arrowy = 0.01*(arrowx)**2 - 80
slope = arrowy[-1] - arrowy[-2]
plt.plot(arrowx+20, arrowy, 'silver', linewidth=10)
plt.arrow(arrowx[-1]+20, arrowy[-1], 0.01, 0.0025*slope, color='silver', linewidth=10, head_width=5, head_length=4)
plt.errorbar(-1*Ytrue, Xtrue,
xerr=Yerr, yerr=Xerr, fmt='k.', markersize=8,
markeredgewidth=1, linewidth=1, markeredgecolor='k')
plt.plot(0,0, 'ko', markersize=12, linewidth=9)
plt.xlabel('$\Delta$RA (mas)', fontsize=24)
plt.ylabel('$\Delta$Dec (mas)', fontsize=24)
plt.xticks(fontsize=20)
plt.yticks(np.arange(-120, 60.01, 30), fontsize=20)
Xcorr = np.array([-20, -20, 10, -14])
Ycorr = np.array([0, -3, 10, 3])
for i in xrange(len(datvals)): # plot error bars!
plt.text(-1*(Ytrue[i]+Ycorr[i]), Xtrue[i]+Xcorr[i], str(time[i])[0:7],
fontsize=18)
plt.text(-56, -110, 'GJ4185Aab', fontsize=20)
plt.text(60, 0, '2015.85', fontsize=18)
plt.xlim(-60, 100)
ax.get_yaxis().set_label_coords(-0.05,0.5)
ax.get_xaxis().set_label_coords(0.5, -0.12)
ax = plt.subplot(224)
plt.hist(a[:,3], np.arange(2.1, 2.35, 0.005), normed=False, alpha=0.3, color='b', weights=np.ones(len(a))*3)
plt.hist(b[:,3], np.arange(2.1, 2.35, 0.005), normed=False, alpha=0.3, color='r')
plt.axis([2.1, 2.35, 0, 2000])
plt.errorbar(np.mean(a[:,3]), 1900, xerr=np.std(a[:,3]), fmt='b.', markersize=12, linewidth=2.5, capsize=2.5)
plt.errorbar(np.mean(b[:,3]), 1775, xerr=np.std(b[:,3]), fmt='r.', markersize=12, linewidth=2.5, capsize=2.5)
plt.text(2.270, 1875, 'Three Observations', color='b', fontsize=16)
plt.text(2.273, 1750, 'Four Observations', color='r', fontsize=16)
plt.xlabel('Period (years)', fontsize=24)
plt.ylabel('Likelihood', fontsize=24)
ax.get_yaxis().set_label_coords(-0.05,0.5)
plt.xticks(fontsize=20)
plt.yticks([], [], fontsize=20)
ax = plt.subplot(223)
t_rvs = np.linspace(2015, 2020, 200)
plt.plot(t_rvs, np.zeros(len(t_rvs)), 'k--', linewidth=1)
plt.plot(t_rvs, np.zeros(len(t_rvs))-15, 'k--', linewidth=1)
for i in g:
RV1 = calcrv(a[i], t_rvs, 0)
plt.plot(t_rvs, RV1, 'b', linewidth=1, alpha=0.1)
for i in g:
RV2 = calcrv(b[i], t_rvs, 0) - 15.0
plt.plot(t_rvs, RV2, 'r', linewidth=1, alpha=0.1)
plt.plot([2015.25], [5.0], 'k.', markersize=6)
plt.errorbar([2015.25], [5.0], yerr =[1.0], markersize=15, color='k')
plt.xticks(np.arange(2015, 2020.01, 1), ['2015', '2016', '2017', '2018', '2019', '2020'], fontsize=20)
plt.yticks(fontsize=20)
plt.xlabel('Year', fontsize=24)
plt.ylabel('Radial Velocity + Offset (km/s)', fontsize=24)
ax.get_yaxis().set_label_coords(-0.05*1/(0.85/2),0.5)
plt.xlim(2015, 2020)
plt.ylim(-20, 15)
#plt.show()
plt.savefig('figure1.pdf')