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Medientyp:
E-Artikel
Titel:
Weighing the Darkness: Astrometric Mass Measurement of Hidden Stellar Companions Using Gaia
Beteiligte:
Andrews, Jeff J.;
Breivik, Katelyn;
Chatterjee, Sourav
Erschienen:
American Astronomical Society, 2019
Erschienen in:The Astrophysical Journal
Sprache:
Nicht zu entscheiden
DOI:
10.3847/1538-4357/ab441f
ISSN:
1538-4357;
0004-637X
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>In astrometric binaries, the presence of a dark, unseen star can be inferred from the gravitational pull it induces on its luminous binary companion. While the orbit of such binaries can be characterized with precise astrometric measurements, constraints made from astrometry alone are not enough to measure the component masses. In this work, we determine the precision with which <jats:italic>Gaia</jats:italic> can astrometrically measure the orbits and—with additional observations—the component masses, for luminous stars hosting hidden companions. Using realistic mock <jats:italic>Gaia</jats:italic> observations, we find that <jats:italic>Gaia</jats:italic> can precisely measure the orbits of binaries hosting hidden brown dwarfs out to tens of parsecs and hidden white dwarf and neutron star companions at distances as far as several hundred parsecs. Heavier black hole companions may be measured out to 1 kpc or farther. We further determine how orbital period affects this precision, finding that <jats:italic>Gaia</jats:italic> can characterize orbits with periods as short as 10 days and as long as a few 10<jats:sup>3</jats:sup> days, with the best measured orbits having periods just short of <jats:italic>Gaia</jats:italic>’s mission lifetime. Extending <jats:italic>Gaia</jats:italic>’s nominal five-year mission lifetime by an additional five years not only allows for the measurement of longer period orbits, but those longer period binaries can be seen at even greater distances.</jats:p>