Bibcode
Hermes, J. J.; Kilic, Mukremin; Brown, Warren R.; Winget, D. E.; Allende-Prieto, C.; Gianninas, A.; Mukadam, Anjum S.; Cabrera-Lavers, A.; Kenyon, Scott J.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 757, Issue 2, article id. L21 (2012).
Advertised on:
10
2012
Citations
100
Refereed citations
82
Description
We report the detection of orbital decay in the 12.75-minute, detached
binary white dwarf (WD) SDSS J065133.338+284423.37 (hereafter J0651).
Our photometric observations over a 13 month baseline constrain the
orbital period to 765.206543(55) s and indicate that the orbit is
decreasing at a rate of (- 9.8 ± 2.8) ×
10-12 s s-1 (or -0.31 ±
0.09 ms yr-1). We revise the system parameters based on
our new photometric and spectroscopic observations: J0651 contains two
WDs with M 1 = 0.26 ± 0.04 M &sun; and M
2 = 0.50 ± 0.04 M &sun;. General
relativity predicts orbital decay due to gravitational wave radiation of
(- 8.2 ± 1.7) × 10-12 s
s-1 (or -0.26 ± 0.05 ms
yr-1). Our observed rate of orbital decay is consistent
with this expectation. J0651 is currently the second-loudest
gravitational wave source known in the milli-Hertz range and the loudest
non-interacting binary, which makes it an excellent verification source
for future missions aimed at directly detecting gravitational waves. Our
work establishes the feasibility of monitoring this system's orbital
period decay at optical wavelengths.
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Stellar spectroscopy allows us to determine the properties and chemical compositions of stars. From this information for stars of different ages in the Milky Way, it is possible to reconstruct the chemical evolution of the Galaxy, as well as the origin of the elements heavier than boron, created mainly in stellar interiors. It is also possible to
Carlos
Allende Prieto