Date of Graduation
Fall 2009
Degree
Master of Natural and Applied Science in Physics
Department
Physics, Astronomy, and Materials Science
Committee Chair
Robert Patterson
Abstract
About 70% of the stars in the Galaxy are thought to be low-mass, red dwarfs. In addition, about half of the Galaxy's stars are believed to be members of binary systems.Logically, there should be many examples of red dwarf binaries, and some of these should exhibit eclipses. Eclipsing binary stars are important because they provide the most direct determination of a star's physical parameters, such as mass and radius. Yet, we do not find many eclipsing binary stars made up of low-mass, red dwarf stars. To date only a handful of systems have been discovered and studied. In an effort to increase the number of known cases, the All-Sky Automated Survey database was searched to determine candidate stars for follow up observations. In this thesis I have studied two new systems. Three-color VRI photometry and theoretical models have been produced for these two systems. For System 1 (ASAS 18:40:10 -00:47:42), the models estimate a radius of 0.24-0.37 solar radius, and temperatures between 3050 K and 3600 K. For System 2 (ASAS 13:30:30 +13:48:24), the models estimate radius of 0.23-0.25 solar radius, and temperatures for both stars to be 3965 K.
Keywords
low-mass stars, eclipsing binary stars, stellar models, dwarf stars, stellar parameters
Subject Categories
Physics
Copyright
© James Floyd Caffey
Recommended Citation
Caffey, James Floyd, "The Search for Low-Mass, Red Dwarf Eclipsing Binary Stars and the Photometric Study of Two New Systems" (2009). MSU Graduate Theses. 2739.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2739
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