Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Determination of the mass-ratio distribution, II: Double-lined spectroscopic binary stars

  • Published:
Astrophysics and Space Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The application of the Richardson-Lucy iterative technique for the rectification of measurement errors, to the mass-ratio distribution of the double-lined spectroscopic binary stars (SBII) in theSixth Catalogue of the Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binary Stars, is evaluated for the SBII systems in the Eighth version of the Catalogue.

The estimates of the real distribution, produced by the Richardson-Lucy method after successive iterations, do not converge in a trivial way. The stop criterion, suggested in the original paper on the method, is used in the application of the method to both real and simulated distributions. It is shown that, in the application to the mass-ratio distribution of the SBII systems, the iterations should stop considerably earlier than was previously assumed.

The enhanced peak at mass-ratios near unity, that was found to exist in the real mass-ratio distribution, based on the earlier application of the iterative technique to the SBII systems, is likely to be due to an overshoot effect that occurs when the iterations are carried too far. When the stop criterion is used in the application of the method to the SBII systems in the Eighth version of the Catalogue, the resulting estimate of the real mass-ratio distribution does not shown evidence for anenhanced number of binary stars with mass ratios near unity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adorf, H. M.: 1990,ST-ECF Newsletter 14, 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banks, J. and Carson II, J. S.: 1984,Discrete Event System Simulation, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batten, A. H.: 1967,Sixth Catalogue of the Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binary Stars, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria, B.C. (DAO6).

    Google Scholar 

  • Batten, A. H., Fletcher, J. M., and MacCarthy, D. G.: 1989,Eighth Catalogue of the Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binary Systems, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria, B.C. (DAO8).

    Google Scholar 

  • Efron, B.: 1982,The Jackknife, the Bootstrap and Other Resampling Plans, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogeveen, S. J.: 1992,Astrophys. Space Sci. 194, 143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucy, L. B.: 1974,Astron. J. 79, 745.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucy, L. B. and Ricco, E.: 1979,Astron. J. 84, 401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nobelis, P. P.: 1990, in C. Jaschek and F. Murtagh (eds.),Errors, Bias and Uncertainties in Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 89–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Press, W. H., Flannery, B. P., Teukolsky, S. A., and Vetterling, W. T.: 1986,Numerical Recipes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Astronomical Institute ‘Anton Pannekoek’, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sake J. Hogeveen

  2. Center for High Energy Astrophysics (CHEAF), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sake J. Hogeveen

Authors
  1. Sake J. Hogeveen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hogeveen, S.J. Determination of the mass-ratio distribution, II: Double-lined spectroscopic binary stars. Astrophys Space Sci 195, 359–372 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00646768

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00646768

Keywords

Search

Navigation