Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998mnras.300..292k&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 300, Issue 1, pp. 292-302.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
101
Binaries: Close, Stars: Individual: Beta Per, Stars: Individual: Lambda Tau
Scientific paper
Tidal friction in close binaries, with periods of a few days, is expected to circularize the orbit on a time-scale long compared with human observation but shorter than, or comparable to, the lifetimes of main-sequence stars. In a hierarchical triple star, however, the perturbing effect of the distant third star may decircularize the inner orbit significantly on a time-scale of the order of days (as in lambda Tau) or centuries (as in beta Per). If the inner pair is observed to be semidetached, however, it is plausible to assume that the eccentricity is small. This may be because tidal friction is operating on a comparably short time-scale, and so it is in principle amenable to observation. We attempt to determine a lower limit to the strength of tidal friction in lambda Tau and beta Per, on the basis of this consideration. Tidal friction will also lead to a secular transfer of angular momentum from the inner orbit to the outer orbit. Too rapid a transfer may lead to orbital shrinkage that is fast compared with the nuclear time-scales of the inner systems, and this can also be ruled out on observational grounds. Thus we may be able to set an upper as well as a lower limit to the strength of tidal friction, on the basis of observations. In a young hierarchical triple, provided that the orbits are fairly nearly orthogonal, tidal friction can serve to reduce the inner orbital period from months to days within a fairly short period of time, of order P^2_out/P_in. This may be a significant mechanism for producing young short-period binaries.
Eggleton Peter P.
Kiseleva Ludmila G.
Mikkola Seppo
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