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Estimating Stellar and Galaxy Masses

The document outlines two practical problems related to the estimation of masses in astrophysics, specifically focusing on the components of the binary star Capella and the mass of the galaxy FGC 1908. It provides observational data and methodologies, including the use of Kepler's Third Law and spectroscopic analysis, to derive mass estimates while also addressing potential sources of error. Additionally, it mentions the availability of problem texts in multiple languages.

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6 views2 pages

Estimating Stellar and Galaxy Masses

The document outlines two practical problems related to the estimation of masses in astrophysics, specifically focusing on the components of the binary star Capella and the mass of the galaxy FGC 1908. It provides observational data and methodologies, including the use of Kepler's Third Law and spectroscopic analysis, to derive mass estimates while also addressing potential sources of error. Additionally, it mentions the availability of problem texts in multiple languages.

Uploaded by

funykids2008
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Practical round

Both age groups (A and B).

Text of these problems is available also


in Bulgarian, Danish, Portuguese and Russian.

7. The masses of Capella's components.

The 6-meter telescope of SAO is one of a few to carry out speckle-interferometric


observations of visual binary stars. The purpose is a direct measurement of stellar
masses. You are proposed to estimate the masses of Capella's components, using
our observational data.

Capella (Alpha Aur) is a very close visual pair. Fig.1 shows a relative orbit of the
component B as observed over many years by observations by different
observatories. The points obtained in SAO are marked in red. The position of the
component A is marked by a cross and is connected to the periastron point with a
straight line. The radial velocity curves of the both components are shown in
Fig.2.

Capella's parallax is  = 0".077, the revolution period of its components is P =


104d.

 Consider a three-dimensional model of the system allowing, in particular,


for the orbital eccentricity and the inclination of the orbital plane towards
the line of sight.
 Estimate the masses of the components, using the Kepler's Third Law.
 Consider the possible causes of the errors of your estimates.

8. A galaxy's mass.

Erge-on spiral galaxies are suitable for the determination of their masses. Prof.
[Link] and his colleagues complied a cataloge of such galaxies and
obtained their mass spectroscopically. The spectrum of one galaxy, FGC 1908 in
Dragon, is given below. It was obtained on the 4-th of March 1997, with the help
of a spectrograph installed at the primary focus of the 6-meter telescope. As the
figure shows, the spectrograph slit was aligned with the major axis of the galaxy.
Vertical lines crossing the spectrum are emission from the night sky. Other
emissions belong to the galaxy. Their laboratory wavelengths are indicated. When
determining the galaxy's mass at the SAO the Hubble constant was taken to be H =
74 km/(sMpc).

You are required to repeat the estimate of the galaxy's mass. Recall that 1 pc =
3.091018 cm, the mass of the Sun is MO = 21033 g and the gravity constant is G =
6.6710-8 dyncm2/g2.

 Explain why a two-dimensional spectrum of the galaxy looks exactly like


that.
 Estimate the mass of FGC 1908 and compare it to the mass of our
galaxy.
 Consider the possible causes of the errors of your estimates.

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