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research article

The Orbit and Dynamical Mass of Polaris: Observations with the CHARA Array

Evans, Nancy Remage
•
Schaefer, Gail H.
•
Gallenne, Alexandre
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August 1, 2024
The Astrophysical Journal

The 30 yr orbit of the Cepheid Polaris has been followed with observations by the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array from 2016 through 2021. An additional measurement has been made with speckle interferometry at the Apache Point Observatory. Detection of the companion is complicated by its comparative faintness—an extreme flux ratio. Angular diameter measurements appear to show some variation with pulsation phase. Astrometric positions of the companion were measured with a custom grid-based model-fitting procedure and confirmed with the CANDID software. These positions were combined with the extensive radial velocities (RVs) discussed by Torres to fit an orbit. Because of the imbalance of the sizes of the astrometry and RV data sets, several methods of weighting are discussed. The resulting mass of the Cepheid is 5.13 ± 0.28 M ⊙. Because of the comparatively large eccentricity of the orbit (0.63), the mass derived is sensitive to the value found for the eccentricity. The mass combined with the distance shows that the Cepheid is more luminous than predicted for this mass from evolutionary tracks. The identification of surface spots is discussed. This would give credence to the identification of a radial velocity variation with a period of approximately 120 days as a rotation period. Polaris has some unusual properties (rapid period change, a phase jump, variable amplitude, and unusual polarization). However, a pulsation scenario involving pulsation mode, orbital periastron passage, and low pulsation amplitude can explain these characteristics within the framework of pulsation seen in Cepheids.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ad5e7a
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85201702806

Author(s)
Evans, Nancy Remage

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Schaefer, Gail H.

Georgia State University

Gallenne, Alexandre

Universidad Andrés Bello

Torres, Guillermo

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Horch, Elliott P.

Southern Connecticut State University

Anderson, Richard I.  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Monnier, John D.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Roettenbacher, Rachael M.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Baron, Fabien

Georgia State University

Anugu, Narsireddy

Georgia State University

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Date Issued

2024-08-01

Published in
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume

971

Issue

2

Article Number

190

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
GR-ANDERSON  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias

Agencia Nacional de Investigación Científica y Desarrollo

FWO

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Available on Infoscience
January 24, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/243630
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