Astro Notes

PH507 Astrophysics Dr Dirk Froebrich 1
MASS MEASUREMENT

PLANET REVIEW

The NEW Solar System

2003UB313 Eris

A Planet is: A celestial body that is (a) in orbit around the Sun, (b) has
sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that
it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has
cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit

In 2003, The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group on
Extrasolar Planets made a position statement on the definition of a
planet.

- Objects with true masses below the limiting mass for thermonuclear
fusion of deuterium (currently calculated to be 13 times the mass of
Jupiter for objects with the same isotopic abundance as the Sun) that
orbit stars or stellar remnants are "planets" (no matter how they formed).
The minimum mass and size required for an extrasolar object to be
considered a planet should be the same as that used in our Solar System.
- Substellar objects with true masses above the limiting mass for
thermonuclear fusion of deuterium are "brown dwarfs", no matter how
they formed nor where they are located.
- Free-floating objects in young star clusters with masses below the limiting
mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium are not "planets", but are
"sub-brown dwarfs" (or whatever name is most appropriate).

In the picture above we see the positions of the asteroid belt (green) and
other near-earth objects

The material in the plane of the Solar System is known as the Kuiper Belt
(50 1000AU) or Trans-Neptunian Objects. Surrounding this is a much
larger region known as the Oort Cloud (3000 100,000 AU), that contains
material that occasionally falls in, under the influence of gravity, towards
the Sun as comets.


The Sun

Over 1.4 million kilometers (869,919 miles) wide. Contains 99.86 percent
of the mass of the entire solar system: well over a million Earths could fit
inside its bulk.
The total energy radiated by the Sun averages 383billion trillion kilowatts,
the equivalent of the energy generated by 100 billion tons of TNT
exploding each and every second. i.e. 3.83 * 10
26
W

Planetary configurations

Ecliptic is the intersection of the celestial sphere with the ecliptic plane,
which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth
around the Sun.

Some of the definitions below make the assumption of coplanar circular
orbits. True planetary orbits are ellipses with low eccentricity and
inclinations are small so the concepts are applicable in real cases.

Copernicus correctly stated that the farther a planet lies from the Sun, the
slower it moves around the Sun. When the Earth and another planet pass
each other on the same side of the Sun, the apparent retrograde loop
occurs from the relative motions of the other planet and the Earth.


As we view the planet from the moving Earth, our line of sight
reverses its angular motion twice, and the three-dimensional aspect
of the loop comes about because the orbits of the two planets are not
coplanar. This passing situation is the same for inferior or superior
planets.

A Retrograde loop occurs when a superior planet moves through
opposition, and occurs as the earth's motion about its orbit causes it
to overtake the slower moving superior planet. Thus, close to
opposition, the planet's motion relative to fixed background stars,
follows a small loop.

Lecture 5: Measuring Mass

Mass can be measured in two ways.

1 We could count up the atoms, or count up the molecules and grains of
dust and infer the number of atoms. This method can be used if the
object is optically thin and we have good tracer: a radiation or
scattering mechanism in which the number of photons is related to
the number of particles.

2 Otherwise, measuring the mass of an object relies upon its gravitational
influence on nearby bodies or on itself (self-gravity).

Newtons second law: F=m*a. The first law relates the acceleration to a
change in speed or direction (law of inertia). Third law: action = reaction.

Keplers empirical laws for orbital motion describe the nature of the
acceleration from which masses can be derived.


Kepler's Laws

First Law: The orbit of each planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one
focus
S
F
C
a
b
p
r
q
Q
f

S = Sun, F = other focus, p = planet.

r = HELIOCENTRIC DISTANCE.
f = TRUE ANOMALY
a = SEMI-MAJOR AXIS = mean heliocentric distance, which defines the
size of the orbit.
b = SEMI-MINOR AXIS.
e = ECCENTRICITY, defines shape of orbit.

Ellipse, by definition:
SP + PF = 2a (1)
e = CS / a (2)

Therefore
b
2
= a
2
* (1-e
2
) (3)

When CS=0, e = 0, b = a, the orbit is a circle.
When CS=, e = 1, the orbit is a parabola.

q = PERIHELION DISTANCE = a - CS = a ae
q = a(1-e) (4)

Q = APHELION DISTANCE = a + CS = a + ae
Q = a(1+e) (5)

Second Law: For any planet, the radius vector sweeps out equal areas
in equal time intervals

Time interval t for planet to travel from p to p
1
is the same as time
taken for planet to get from p
2
to p
3
.

Let the time interval t be very small. Then the arc from p to p
1
can be
regarded as a straight line and the area swept out is the area of the triangle
S p p
1
. If f
1
is the angle to p
1
, and f is the angle to p:
S
p
p
1
r
r
1
f
p
p
2
3

Area =
1
/
2
* r * r
1
*
sin (f
1
-f).

Since t is very small, r~ r
1

and sin (f
1
-f) ~ (f
1
-f) = f

Area =
1
/
2
* r
2
* f

The rate this area is swept out is constant according to Kepler's second law,
so

r
2
*
df
/
dt
= h (6)

where h, a constant, is twice the rate of description of area by the radius
vector. It is the orbital angular momentum (per unit mass). The orbital
angular momentum is conserved.

The total area of the ellipse is *a*b, which is swept out in the orbital
period P, so using Eq. (6)

2 *a*b/P = h.

The average angular rate of motion is n = 2 /P, so

n * a
2
* (1-e
2
)
1/2
= h (7)

Keplers Third Law

Kepler's third law took another ten years to develop after the first two. This law
relates the period a planet takes to travel around the sun to its average distance
from the Sun. This is sometimes called the semi major axis of an elliptical orbit.

P
2
= k * a
3

where P is the period and a is the average distance from the Sun. Or, if P is
in years and a is in AU:

P
2
= a
3

Keplers Third Law follows from the central inverse square nature of the
law of gravitation. First look at Newton's law of gravity - stated
mathematically as
2
2 1
r
m Gm
F =

Newton actually found that the focus of the elliptical orbits for two bodies
of masses m
1
and m
2
is at the centre of mass. The centripetal forces of a
circular orbit are
X
Centre of Mass
r 1
r 2
F 2
F 1
m 1 m 2
v 1
v 2

F
1
=
m
1
v
1
2
r
1
=
4
2
m
1
r
1
P
2

and
F
2
=
m
2
v
2
2
r
2
=
4
2
m
2
r
2
P
2

where
v =
2 r
P


and since they are orbiting each other (Newtons 2
nd
law)
r
1
r
2
=
m
2
m
1

Let's call the separation a = r
1
+ r
2
. Then

a = r
1 +
m
1
r
1
m
2
= r
1

m
1
m
2
+ 1

a n d m u l t i p l y i n g b o t h s i d e s b y m
2
, a m
2 = m
1
r
1 + m
2
r
1
o r , s o l v i n g f o r r
1
, r
1 =
a m
2
( m
1 + m
2
)

Now, since we know that the mutual gravitational force is

F
g r a v

=

F
1

=

F
2

=

G m
1
m
2
a
2

then substituting for r
1
,
a
3
=
G
(
m
1
+ m
2
)
P
2
4
2

Solving for P:
P = 2
a
3
G
(
M
1
+ M
2
)

Third Law is therefore: The cubes of the semi-major axes of the planetary
orbits are proportional to the squares of the planets' periods of revolution.

Example
Europa, one of the Jovian moons, orbits at a distance of 671,000 km from
the centre of Jupiter, and has an orbital period of 3.55 days. Assuming that
the mass of Jupiter is very much greater than that of Europa, use Kepler's
third law to estimate the mass of Jupiter.

Using Kepler's third law:
m m
a
GP
jupiter europa
+ =
4
2 3
2

The semi-major axis, a=6.71x10
5
km = 6.71x10
8
m, and the period, P = 3.55
x 3600 x 24 = 3.07 x 10
5
seconds

Thus:
( )
( )
kg
s s kg m
m
m m
europa jupiter
27
2
5 2 1 3 11
3
8 2
10 * 9 . 1
10 * 07 . 3 10 * 67 . 6
10 * 71 . 6 4
= = +

and since m
jupiter
>> m
europa
, then m
jupiter
~ 1.9 x 10
27
kg.
Summary of Keplers Laws

Summary: Measuring the mass of a planet
Keplers third law gives G(M+m) = 4
2
a
3
/ P
2
(To remember, do a dimensional analysis: GM/R
2
and R/P
2
are both
accelerations).

Since M >> m for all planets, it isn't possible to make precise enough
determinations of P and a to determine the masses m of the planets.
However, if satellites of planets are observed, then Kepler's law can be
used.

Let m
p
= mass of planet
m
s
= mass of satellite
P
s
= orbital period of satellite
a
s
= semi-major axis of satellite's orbit about the planet.
Then: G(m
p
+m
s
) = 4
2
a
s
3
/P
s
2

If the mass of the satellite is small compared with the mass of the planet
then
m
p
= 4
2
a
s
3
/(G P
s
2
)

All the major planets have satellites except Mercury and Venus. Their
masses were determined from orbital perturbations on other bodies and
later, more accurately from changes in the orbits of spacecraft.

So: we can determine the masses of massive objects if we can detect and
follow the motion of very low mass satellites. That doesnt lead very far.
How can we determine the masses of distant stars and exoplanets?

BASIC STELLAR PROPERTIES - BINARY STARS

For solar type stars, single:double:triple:quadruple system ratios are
45:46 : 8 : 1.
Binary nature of stars deduced in a number of ways:

1. VISUAL BINARIES:
- Resolvable, generally nearby stars (parallax likely to be available)
- Relative orbital motion detectable over a number of years
- Not possible (yet) for exoplanets!

2. ASTROMETRIC BINARY: only one component detected

3. SPECTROSCOPIC BINARIES:
- Unresolved
- Periodic oscillations of spectral lines (due to Doppler shift)
- In some cases only one spectrum seen

4. ECLIPSING BINARY:
- Unresolved
- Stars are orbiting in plane close to line of sight giving eclipses observable
as a change in the combined brightness with time (light curves).

Some stars may be a combination of these.


1. Visual Binaries

Angular separation 0.5 arcsec (close to Sun, long orbital periods - years
remember: at 1 parsec, 1 arcsec corresponds to 1 AU)

EXAMPLE: Sirius:

Also known as Alpha Canis Majoris, Sirius is the fifth closest system to the Sun, at 8.6
light-years. Sirius is composed of a main-sequence star and a white dwarf stellar
remnant. They form a close binary, Alpha Canis Majoris A and B, that is separated "on
average" by only about 20 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun -- 19.8
astronomical units (AUs) of an orbital semi-major axis -- which is about the same as the
distance between Uranus and our Sun.
The companion star is so dim that it cannot be perceived with the naked eye. After
analyzing the motions of Sirius from 1833 to 1844, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-
1846) concluded that it had an unseen companion

Observations:
Relative positions:
= angular separation = position angle

Absolute positions: Harder to measure orbits of more massive star A and
less massive star B about centre of mass C which has proper motion .
Right Ascension
E
N
Declination
Primary
Secondary
Motion of centre of mass
= proper motion
B
A
C

NB: parallax and aberration must be accounted for!

RELATIVE ORBITS:
- TRUE orbit:
q = peri-astron distance (arcsec or km)
Q = apo-astron distance (arcsec or km)
a = semi-major axis (arcsec or km)

a = (q + Q)/2

- APPARENT orbits are projected on the celestial sphere

Inclination i to plane of sky defines relation between true orbit and
apparent orbit.
If i0 then the centre of mass (e.g. primary) is not at the focus of the
elliptical orbit.
Measurement of the displacement of the primary gives inclination and true
semi-major axis in arcseconds (a").

i i
True orbit
Incline by 45 Apparent orbit

If the parallax p in arcsec is observable then a can be derived from a".
radius
of Earth's
orbit
Sun
Earth
r = distance of binary star
p a"
A
B
a

For i=0, a = a"/p AU
In general a correction for i0 is required.

Now lets go back to Keplers Law

From Kepler's Law, the Period P is given by

P
2
=
G (m
A
+ m
B
)
4
2
a
3

For the Earth-Sun system P=1year, a=1A.U.,
m
A
+m
B
~m
sun
so 4
2
/G = 1

P
2
=
(m
A
+ m
B
)
a
3

provided P is in years, a in AU, m
A
, m
B
in solar masses.

The total system mass is determined:
m
A
+ m
B
= (
p
a"
)
3

P
2
1


ABSOLUTE ORBITS:
*
c
f
d
e
A
B
r
r
A
B
q
Q
A
B

Semi-major axes a
A
= (c+e)/2
a
B
= (d+f)/2
Maximum separation = Q = c + f
Minimum separation = q = d + e

So a
A
+ a
B
= (c+d+e+f)/2 = (q + Q)/2 = a
a = a
A
+ a
B
(1)
(and clearly r = r
A
+ r
B
)

From the definition of centre of mass,
m
A
*r
A
=m
B
*r
B
(m
A*
a
A
=m
B
*a
B
)
m
A
/m
B
= a
B
/a
A
= r
B
/r
A

So from Keplers Third Law, which gives the sum of the masses, and the
equation above, we get the ratio of masses, ==> m
A
, m
B
. Therefore, with
both, we can solve for the individual masses of the two stars.


3 Spectroscopic Binaries

To measure the periodic line shifts requires
Orbital period relatively short (hours - months) and i0.

Doppler shift of spectral lines by component of orbital velocity in line of
sight (nominal position is radial velocity of system):
wavelength
Time
wavelength
Time
2 Stars observable 1 Star observable

See: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/astro101/java/binary/binary.htm


Data plotted as RADIAL VELOCITY CURVE:
Shape of radial velocity curves depends on orbital eccentricity and
orientation

If the orbit is tilted to the line of sight (i<90), the shape is unchanged
but velocities are reduced by a factor sin(i).

Take a circular orbit with i=90
a = r
A
+ r
B

v = v
A
+ v
B

Orbital velocities:
v
A
= 2 r
A
/ P
v
B
= 2 r
B
/ P

v = 2 r / P

Since m
A
*r
A
= m
B
*r
B

Ratio of masses: m
A
/m
B
= r
B
/r
A
= v
B
/v
A
(2)


r
A
r
B
r
=
v
v
B
v
A
In general, measured velocities are v
B
sin i and v
A
sin i, so sin i terms
cancel: so we measure the mass ratio accurately.
From Kepler's law m
A
+ m
B
= a
3
/P
2
(in solar units).
Observed quantities: v
A
* sin(i) => r
A
* sin(i)
v
B
* sin(i) => r
B *
sin(i)
a * sin(i)

So can only deduce
(m
A
+ m
B
) = (a sin(i))
3
/P
2

For a spectroscopic binary, only lower limits to each mass can be
derived, unless the inclination i is known independently.

DETAILED DERIVATION when only one radial velocity is known
(eliminate VB using mass ratio)

Assume a planet and star, both of considerable mass, are in circular
orbits around their centre of mass. Given the period P, the stars orbital
speed v* and mass M*, the mass of the planet, Mp is given by

Mp
3
/ (M* + Mp)
2
= v
3
* P / (2 * G)

Note that there are 9 unknowns: P, a*, ap, M*, Mp, v*, vp, a, M
However:
a = a* + ap
M = M*+ Mp

Centre of mass; M
*
a
*
= Mp * ap
Keplers law relates: P, a, M
P = 2 a
*
/v
*

P = 2 ap/vp

.so that is 6 equations.

Note: we usually only know vr* = v* sin(i) and we assume the planet mass
is small.

4 Eclipsing Binaries
Since stars eclipse i ~90

For a circular orbit:
1, 1' FIRST CONTACT
2, 2' SECOND CONTACT
3, 3' THIRD CONTACT
4, 4' FOURTH CONTACT

v
1
2 3 4
4' 3' 2'
1'
Observer in plane

Variation in brightness with time is LIGHT CURVE.
Timing of events gives information on sizes of stars and orbital
elements.
Shape of events gives information on properties of stars and relative
temperatures. If smaller star is hotter, then:


F
or
magnitude
Primary minimum
Secondary minimum
Larger star is hotter
Smaller star is hotter
time
Case 1 t' t' t' t' t t t t
1
2
3
4 1 2
3 4
Case 1
Case 2
Case 2 t t t t t' t' t' t'
1
2 3
4
1 2
3
4

If orbits are circular:

minima are symmetrical ie t
2
-t
1
= t
4
-t
3
= t
2
'-t
1
' = t
4
'-t
3
';
minima are half a period apart; eclipses are of same duration.
Asymetrical and/or unevenly spaced minima indicate eccentricity
and orientation of orbit.

For a circular orbit: Distance = velocity x time
2R
S
= v(t2 t1)
and
2R
S
+ 2R = v(t
4
- t
1
) => 2R
L
= v(t
4
- t
2
) (5)
R
S
/R
L
= (t
2
-t
1
)/ (t
4
- t
2
) (6)


1 2
3 4
t
t t
t
2R
S
2R
L

Light curves are also affected by:

No flat minimum Non-total eclises
Limb darkening
(non-uniform
brightness)
"rounds off"
eclipses
Ellipsoidal stars
(due to
proximity)
"rounds off"
maxima
Reflection effect
(if one star is
very bright)

5 Eclipsing-Spectroscopic Binaries

For eclipsing binaries i 70 (sin
3
i > 0.9)
If stars are spectroscopic binaries then radial velocities are known.
So: masses are derived, radii are derived, ratio of temperatures is derived
Examine spectra and light curve to determine which radius corresponds
with which mass and temperature:
Since Luminosity L = 4 R
2
T
4
, (Stefan-Boltzmann equation) the
ratio of luminosities is derived from
L
B
L
A
=
R
B
R
A
2

T
B
T
A
4

How else to determine mass?
1. Mass-Luminosity relation derived from binaries.
2. Lensing/micro-lensing.
3. Virial expression

Astro Notes

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PH507 Astrophysics Dr Dirk Froebrich 1

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