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An Investigation of Six Poorly Described Close Visual Double Stars Using Speckle Interferometry Daniel B

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An Investigation of Six Poorly Described Close Visual Double Stars Using Speckle Interferometry Daniel B University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2015 An Investigation Of Six Poorly Described Close Visual Double Stars Using Speckle Interferometry Daniel B. Wallace Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Wallace, Daniel B., "An Investigation Of Six Poorly Described Close Visual Double Stars Using Speckle Interferometry" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1849. https://commons.und.edu/theses/1849 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN INVESTIGATION OF SIX POORLY DESCRIBED CLOSE VISUAL DOUBLE STARS USING SPECKLE INTERFEROMETRY by Daniel B. Wallace Bachelor of Science, East Stroudsburg University, 2008 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Grand Forks, North Dakota May 2015 This thesis, submitted by Daniel B. Wallace in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. Dr. Paul S. Hardersen Dr. Russell M. Genet Dr. Kent Clark This thesis is being submitted by the appointed advisory committee as having met all of the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota and is hereby approved. Wayne Swisher Dean of the School of Graduate Studies Date ii PERMISSION Title An Investigation of Six Poorly Described Close Visual Double Stars Using Speckle Interferometry Department Space Studies Degree Master of Science In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my thesis work or, in his absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this thesis or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Daniel B. Wallace May 1, 2015 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..............................................................................................................ix ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................x CHAPTER I. OVERVIEW............................................................................................................1 Introduction..................................................................................................1 Official Statement of Problem & Experimental Hypothesis........................2 Double Stars.................................................................................................3 History of Double Star Science....................................................................7 Significance of Double Star Science..........................................................12 Binary Stars and Stellar Mass Determinations..........................................14 History of Speckle Interferometry.............................................................19 The Interference Phenomena of Light.......................................................21 Using Interference Phenomena for High Angular Resolution...................24 Speckle Interferometry & the Speckle Pattern...........................................25 Extracting Diffraction-Limited Astrometry from Speckle Images............28 Considerations of CCD Imaging &Speckle Interferometry Based Astrometry.................................................................................................31 II. OBSERVATIONS.................................................................................................36 iv Equipment Details and Observational Conditions.....................................36 Observational Targets................................................................................40 III. METHODS............................................................................................................44 PS3 Data Reduction...................................................................................44 Calibration Process....................................................................................50 IV. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS...............................................................................57 Analysis......................................................................................................57 WDS19069+4137......................................................................................58 WDS22357+5413......................................................................................62 WDS02231+7021......................................................................................65 WDS04505+0103......................................................................................68 WDS05153+4710......................................................................................70 WDS06256+2227......................................................................................72 Conclusions................................................................................................75 APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................81 Appendix A........................................................................................................................82 Appendix B........................................................................................................................84 Appendix C........................................................................................................................85 REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................86 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. α Geminorum – the Castor Sextuplet System............................................................................5 2. Diagram representing differential photometry characteristic of eclipsing binary systems.......................................................................................................................................6 3. A simple schematic describing the major types of binary stars and their characteristics as seen from Earth..............................................................................................7 4. The principle double star position measurements......................................................................8 5. Growth of Washington Double Star catalog & comparison of major double star Catalogs of the 20thcentury........................................................................................................8 6. Examples of USNO orbital plots.............................................................................................15 7. Interference phenomenon.........................................................................................................21 8. Airy patterns.............................................................................................................................23 9. Schematic of the MWO Hooker telescope interferometer with two collecting mirrors A and B spaced 20ft. apart to form the interferometer...............................................24 10. A single speckle image (WDS00101+3825) exposure typical of a 10-60 millisecond (ms) exposure from the Andor Luca-R EMCCD camera installed on the 2.1-meter telescope at KPNO during the Oct. 2013 observing run..............................25 11. Interferogram, or speckle pattern formation schematic...........................................................27 12. Power spectrum image & autocorrelogram.............................................................................29 13. Autocorrelogram after deconvolution using a single bright, nearby (to the target) reference star from the Hipparcos catalog, further boosting SNR and defining the autocorrellogram......................................................................................................................31 14. CCD Image Formation and PSF..............................................................................................33 15. PSF formation of very close stars............................................................................................34 vi Figure Page 16. NOAO 2.1-meter telescope housing complex at KPNO.........................................................36
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