Changes in the orbital periods of close binary stars

Details Changes in the orbital periods of close binary stars Changes in the orbital periods of close binary stars

Dec 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990apj...365..677m&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 365, Dec. 20, 1990, p. 677-680.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

37

Binary Stars, Orbit Perturbation, Stellar Interiors, Stellar Orbits, Periodic Variations, Quadrupoles, Tides

Scientific paper

A number of close binary stars show erratic changes in their orbital periods on time scales of order 5-10 yr. Recently it has been proposed that the period changes are the result of changes in the quadrupole moment of one star, caused in turn by an alteration of the internal structure of that star. Magnetic pressure, which either distorts the shape of the star or changes its tidally induced quadrupole moment, is suggested as the driving force behind the alteration. Here, the amount of energy required to distort one component of a binary and match the observed period changes is estimated. The rate at which energy is produced or lost is governed by the thermal time scale of the star, and the estimates indicate that the observed period changes would take at least 1000 yr for the tidal quadrupole mechanism, and of order 60 yr to match a period change in V471 Tau which took only 4 yr.

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