KH 15D: A Spectroscopic Binary
Abstract
We present the results of a high-resolution spectroscopic monitoring program of the eclipsing pre–main-sequence star KH 15D that reveal it to be a single-lined spectroscopic binary. We find that the best-fit Keplerian model has a period P = 48.38 days, which is nearly identical to the photometric period. Thus, we find the best explanation for the periodic dimming of KH 15D is that the binary motion carries the currently visible star alternately above and behind the edge of an obscuring cloud. The data are consistent with the models involving an inclined circumstellar disk, as recently proposed by Winn et al. and Chiang & Murray-Clay. We show that the mass ratio expected from models of pre–main-sequence evolution, together with the mass constraints for the visible star, restrict the orbital eccentricity to 0.68 ≤ e ≤ 0.80 and the mass function to 0.125 M_☉ ≤ FM/sin^3i ≤ 0.5 M_☉.
Additional Information
© 2004 American Astronomical Society. Received 2004 March 3; accepted 2004 May 19. Based on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the Naional Aeronautics and Space Administration; at Las Campanas Observatory of the Carnegie Institution with the Magellan II Clay Telescope; and at McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas at Austin. We would like to thank Gibor Basri, Paul Butler, Debra Fischer, and Subanjoy Mohanty for generously lending portions of their observing time for our project. Many thanks to Eugene Chiang, Ruth Murray-Clay, Steve Dawson, and Josh Winn for their helpful conversations and suggestions. We acknowledge support by NASA grant NAG 5-8299 and NSF grant AST 95-20443 (to G. W. M.), NASA grant NAG 5-12502 (to W. H.), and Sun Microsystems. We thank the NASA, University of California, and McDonald Observatory telescope assignment committees for allocations of telescope time.Attached Files
Published - 1538-3881_128_3_1265.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 37325
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20130305-151551062
- NASA
- NAG 5-8299
- NSF
- AST 95-20443
- NASA
- NAG 5-12502
- Sun Microsystems
- Created
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2013-03-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field