Study of Physical Characteristics and Superhump – Orbital Period Relationship of Su Ursae Majoris Type Stars
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Study of physical characteristics and superhump – orbital period relationship of Su Ursae Majoris type stars By Pestheruwe Liyanaralalage Sujith Lakshan Cooray B.Sc(Special) 2018 Study of physical characteristics and superhump – orbital period relationship of Su Ursae Majoris type stars By Pestheruwe Liyanaralalage Sujith Lakshan Cooray Index No: AS2013336 Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Physics University of Sri Jayewardenepura On 10-01-2018 DECLARATION The work described in this dissertation was carried out by me in collaboration with the Department of Physics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka under the guidance Dr. Shantha Gamage, senior lecturer, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka and Mr. Indika Medagangoda, Research Scientist (Astronomy), Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, Sri Lanka and has not submitted elsewhere. 10th January 2018 ……………………………. Date of submission P.L.S.L.Cooray …………………………….. …………………………….. Dr. Shantha Gamage Mr. Indika Medagangoda, Supervisor /Department of Physics, Research Scientist (Astronomy), University of Sri Jayewardenepura Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, Sri Lanka …………………………... …………………………... Dr. W. D. A.T. Wijerathne, Prof. Sudantha Liyanage, Head/Department of Physics, Dean/Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. University of Sri Jayewardenepura. i Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my internal supervisor Dr. Shantha Gamage, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Sri Lanka, for make the way for me to attend of Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, Katubadda and guidance me throughout the study. I hereby acknowledge, with deep sense of gratitude to my external supervisor Mr. Indika Madagangoda whose Research Scientist in astronomy of Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, Katubadda. Great thanks are also due to the Eng.Sanath Panawannage, Director of Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies; Head of Space Application Division Mr. Saraj Gunasekara; Research Scientist Janaka Adassuriya & all staff members of Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies for their invaluable support and sharing knowledge with me. I specially remind my parents who made me interest about field of Astronomy when I was a kid. Finally would like to thanks all my friends and my loved one giving their support and encouraging words to success this study. Sujith Lakshan Cooray January 2018 ii Abstract The photometric study of the main characteristics of the SU Ursae Majoris (SU UMa) stars is the main objective of this research. SU Ursae Majoris (SU UMa) stars belongs to the dwarf novae class of intrinsic cataclysmic variable (CV) stars. The relevant data obtained through Arthur C. Clarke Institute (ACCIMT) were analyzed from Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF), a professional astronomical data reduction and analysis software in Linux platform. During the period of the study raw image frames of four SU UMa stars such as SDSS0932, IY UMa, J0426 and J0711 were obtained. A set of time series raw images were analyzed by construction of light curves after reducing their dark, flat and bias noises. Since the obtained data samples were very faint, beyond 15 mag, a careful precise attention was made to reduce the noises of these frames. While Qphot and Phot packages in IRAF were mainly used for this data reduction and analysis the obtained results were compared with an IRAF script program (a program program that was written in iraf based programming method). Although it is found that there is a 0.5 magnification difference between IRAF Phot task and IRAF script the shapes of the features in their light curves were almost same. The main result of this research was obtained through the constructed light curve of the IY UMa system where it was observed normal bursts, one of the main characteristics of SU UMa systems, and an eclipse between normal star and the white dwarf the main components of a SU UMa system. The orbital period of the IY UMa was determined as 0.0743 days. The flux variation of the hotspot of the binary system was also clearly identified through the light curve iii Contents Declaration .................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ ii Abstract ........................................................................................................................ iii Contents ....................................................................................................................... iv List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................... 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 VARIABLE STARS ...................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 CATACLYSMIC VARIABLE STARS ...................................................... 5 1.2.2 SU URSAE MAJORIS TYPE STARS ................................................... 7 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................... 10 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE SU UMA STARS .......................... 10 2.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 10 2.2 ORBITAL PERIOD ...................................................................................... 11 2.3 ROCHE LOBE GEOMETRY ...................................................................... 12 2.4 MASS TRANSFER ...................................................................................... 13 2.4.1 ROCHE LOBE OVERFLOW ............................................................... 14 iv 2.4.2 STREAM TRAJECTORY .................................................................... 15 2.4.3 BRIGHT SPOT ..................................................................................... 18 2.5 ACCRETION DICS ..................................................................................... 20 2.5.1 VISCOSITY .......................................................................................... 21 2.5.2 BOUNDARY LAYER .......................................................................... 22 2.5.3 TIDAL LIMITATION .......................................................................... 22 2.5.4 DISC PRECESSION ............................................................................. 22 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................... 24 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 24 3.1 OBSERVING STARS .................................................................................. 24 3.1.1 SRI LANKAN LARGEST TELESCOPE IN ARTHUR C CLARKE INSTITUTE FOR MODERN TECHNOLOGIES (ACCIMT) .......................... 24 3.1.2 ONLINE OBSERVATION ................................................................... 25 3.1.3 KEPLER TELESCOPE DATA ............................................................. 26 3.2 IMAGE REDUCTION AND ANALYSIS FACILITY (IRAF) ................... 27 3.3 FIELD CORRECTIONS .............................................................................. 28 3.3.1 BIAS CORRECTION ........................................................................... 30 3.3.2 DARK CORRECTION ......................................................................... 30 3.3.3 FLAT CORRECTION .......................................................................... 30 3.4 PHOTOMETRY ........................................................................................... 31 3.5 IRAF SCRIPT ............................................................................................... 32 v Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................... 42 RESULTS .................................................................................................................. 42 4.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 42 4.2 IY UMa ......................................................................................................... 43 4.3 SDSS0932 ..................................................................................................... 46 4.4 J0426 ............................................................................................................. 47 4.5 J0711 ............................................................................................................. 49 Chapter 5 ......................................................................................................................