Concepedia

Adaptive Optics Photometry and Astrometry of Binary Stars. II. A Multiplicity Survey of B Stars

Lewis C. Roberts, N. H. Turner, Theo A. ten Brummelaar

The Astronomical Journal · 2007 · 220 citations · 47 references

TL;DR

The study aims to contextualize companion detections with known multiplicity, estimate spectral types from differential magnitudes, and present null detections with their implications. Using adaptive optics on the 3.6‑m Advanced Electro‑Optical System telescope, the authors surveyed 70 B stars, measured astrometry and differential magnitudes for detected companions, and estimated spectral types. They identified 16 companions to 70 B stars (10 new), with separations of 0.2″–7.31″ and differential magnitudes 1.41–10.1, and also catalogued null detections and discussed their implications.

Abstract

We carried out a search for companions to B stars using the adaptive optics system of the Advanced Electro-Optical System 3.6 m telescope. We observed 70 B stars in the I band, finding 16 companions, 10 of which are newly discovered companions. For each system with a detected companion we give its measured astrometry and differential magnitude. We then put the observation in context of the system's known multiplicity and provide a somewhat crude estimate of its spectral type based on the single differential magnitude measurement. The separations range from 0.2'' to 7.31'', and the differential magnitudes range from 1.41 ± 0.01 to 10.1 ± 0.5. Finally, we present a list of the null detections and discuss the implications of null detections of selected stars.