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Session 12 - Binary Stars.
Display session, Monday, June 08
Atlas Ballroom,
The emphasis of this paper concerns Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of published data for the study of eclipsing binaries. An application to galactic astronomy is in progress.
The process uses a Microtex Scanmaker II, a DELL PC with OminPro OCR and custom written software. Publications, back to 1915, are scanned for data to determine times of minimum light (To) and for use in light-curve analyses.
After scanning, the data are plotted and fed into a program that determines To by computing a least square solution for an asymmetric curve. This is an improvement on previous published values, many of which were done by "The folded paper method."
Another program feeds the scanned data into a format compatible with the Wilson-Devinney Method (WD). This permits rigorous analyzes of light curves published prior to 1992, i.e. spot analyzes and systems that share a common-envelope. Comparisons with published results and those determined from this method are shown together with a discussion of the "Do s and Don't s" in OCR.
