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S.L. Walters, C.H.S. Lacy (Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences)
It is commonly believed by laymen that the majority of stars in the universe are a single-star system, like our own sun. On the contrary, researchers have found that over half of the stars in our galaxy, and presumably the rest of the universe, belong to systems containing multiple stars. Of these multiple-star systems, the majority are binary systems that contain two stars. In order to develop an accurate model of stellar evolution for binary stars, accurate data regarding binary systems need to be collected and used to reject or refine existing models.
Roughly four thousand images of the eclipsing binary star system CV Boo were taken with the URSA telescope at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Using differential photometry to analyze the images, magnitude of the system was plotted as a function of time. From this, the orbital period was determined and the data were used to plot a light curve. The light curve and several known parameters of the system were input to the program EBOP. Theoretical light curves, based on a set of parameters, were generated until one exactly matching CV Boo’s light curve was produced, thus determining the properties of the system.
The absolute properties of the system were calculated in the usual manner. In order to determine the age of the stars, the properties of each star were compared to accurate models of chemical composition and physical properties of binary stars as they change with age. The stars in CV Boo are similar to our own sun in physical properties, but they are over twice its age. On a plot of Schaller’s theoretical ZAMS for binary stars, it is clear that the stars in CV Boo are leaving the main sequence.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: bcmathdork@yahoo.com
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.