Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 1993
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993pasp..105..476b&link_type=abstract
Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Publications (ISSN 0004-6280), vol. 105, no. 687, p. 476-486.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
33
Binary Stars, Orbit Calculation, Stellar Mass, Stellar Orbits, Three Dimensional Models, Auriga Constellation, Bolometers, Stellar Evolution, Stellar Rotation
Scientific paper
We have combined new radial velocities of both components of Capella, obtained at McDonald and Kitt Peak, with those recently published by Batten et al. (1991), and with interferometric observations, to derive a new 3D orbit of the Capella system. Our results agree well with those of Bagnuolo and Hartkopf (1989), and yield masses accurate to +/- 3 percent. The cooler component, which is the fainter star visually but the more luminous one bolometrically, is the more massive. The mass ratio differs from unity by more than four times its uncertainty, and this lends strong support to the hypothesis that the cool component has begun to consume its core helium. If so, it may be possible to reconcile, qualitatively at least, the orbit's circularity and the stars' rotational velocities with theories of synchronization and circularization, such as that of the Tassouls (1992).
Barlow D. J.
Fekel Francis C.
Scarfe Colin D.
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