Spectral and Interferometric Analysis of Two Be Ty..., 2011

Contents

Metadata

Title
Spectral and Interferometric Analysis of Two Be Type Stars: 48 Per and Psi Per
Date
2011
Material Type
Undergraduate Research
Creator/Author
Demapan, Bryan
Copyright
Copyright 2011 by Bryan Demapan. In accordance with Title 17 of the United States Code, Copyright Law of the United States of America, this material is copyrighted, and any further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without the permission of the copyright owner.
Subject
Astronomy; Be stars; Stars -- Rotation; Stars -- Temperature;
Description
The observations of two Be stars, 48 Per and Psi Per, were analyzed to determine their orientation in space as viewed from Earth and note their properties. Be stars are known to have high rotational rates and disk-like gas regions surrounding the central star. The spectra of Be stars show Balmer Hydrogen lines in emission with either single- or double-peaked shape depending on how the star is viewed. As the angle of inclination increases, the emission line shows a double-peaked shape due to the Doppler Effect as noted from the results by Hanuschik et al. (1996). Interferometric observations of the two stars 48 Per and Psi Per have been acquired using the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer over 14 nights in November 2006. The data was processed and used to measure the apparent ellipticity of the circumstellar disks of the two target stars. By detecting the apparent ellipticity of the disks of the two stars, the inclination angle for 48 Per and Psi Per were found to be 44 plus/minus 2.3 degrees; and 69.6 plus/minus 1.0 degrees, respectively. The hypothesis that i (inclination angle) for Psi Per is greater than i for 48 Per based on spectroscopic data was shown to be correct. McNair Scholar project. Faculty Advisor: Christopher Tycner
Language
English
Select a page in the document viewer.

Text

Comments

Tags