Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Mar 1980
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1980apj...236l.149m&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters to the Editor, vol. 236, Mar. 15, 1980, p. L149-L153. NSF-supported research.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
39
Binary Stars, Hot Stars, Linear Polarization, Periodic Variations, Stellar Spectrophotometry, Wolf-Rayet Stars, Companion Stars, Visual Photometry
Scientific paper
The linear polarization of the WN5 star HD 50896 was monitored over a 4 month interval with broad-band filters to search for variations synchronous with the period of 3.76 days recently associated with spectroscopic and photometric changes. It has been discovered that the polarization is strongly modulated on a 3.76-day period with a peak-to-peak amplitude greater than approximately 0.3% polarization in each Stokes parameter. However, the dominant variation is, in fact, second harmonic; that is, the Stokes parameters vary markedly with a period of 1.88 days. Such sinusoidal, second-harmonic behavior in the polarization is commonly encountered for close binary systems. Thus these data would tend to support the contention that the 3.76-day period is that of an orbit. Certain features apparent in the currently available data, however, complicate the interpretation. If the object is in fact a binary, then an estimate of the orbital inclination should be possible. Unfortunately, aperiodic instabilities and the report of a large, though uncertain, eccentricity make an accurate estimate of orbital inclination difficult. For a circular orbit and a simple geometry the results would be approximately 71 deg which for a 10-solar mass primary implies a 1.3-solar mass companion using the mass function of Firmani et al. (1980).
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