The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2013.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83779 |
| _version_ | 1811074384292478976 |
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| author | Tran, Kathy, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author2 | Saul A. Rappaport. |
| author_facet | Saul A. Rappaport. Tran, Kathy, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author_sort | Tran, Kathy, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2013. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:48:36Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/83779 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:48:36Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/837792019-04-12T09:22:15Z The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog Behavior of observed minus calculated curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog Tran, Kathy, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Saul A. Rappaport. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Physics. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2013. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-74). In this thesis, we study the timing of eclipses for contact binary systems in the Kepler catalog. Observed eclipse times were determined from Kepler long-cadence light curves and "observed minus calculated" (0 - C) curves were generated for both primary and secondary eclipses of the contact binary systems. We found the 0 - C curves of contact binaries to be clearly distinctive from the curves of other binaries. The key characteristics of these curves are random-walk like variations, with typical semi-amplitudes of 200 to 300 seconds, quasi-periodicities, and anti-correlated behavior between the curves of the primary and secondary eclipses. We performed a formal analysis of systems with dominant anti-correlated behavior, calculating correlation coefficients as low as -0.77, with a mean value of -0.42. We dismiss several physical explanations to account for the observed the anti-correlation of the 0 - C curves. Instead, we propose a simple geometric model of a starspot that is continuously visible around the orbit. by Kathy Tran. S.B. 2014-01-09T19:54:09Z 2014-01-09T19:54:09Z 2013 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83779 864908364 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 74 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Physics. Tran, Kathy, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog |
| title | The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog |
| title_full | The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog |
| title_fullStr | The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog |
| title_full_unstemmed | The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog |
| title_short | The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog |
| title_sort | behavior of o c curves for contact binaries in the kepler catalog |
| topic | Physics. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83779 |
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