Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESA

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky and, despite its proximity, this binary system still imposes intriguing questions about its current characteristics and past evolution. H. E. Bond et al. published decades of astronometric measurements of the Sirius system, determining the dynamical mass...

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Main Authors: Momin Y. Khan, Barbara G. Castanheira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8dd6
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author Momin Y. Khan
Barbara G. Castanheira
author_facet Momin Y. Khan
Barbara G. Castanheira
author_sort Momin Y. Khan
collection DOAJ
description Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky and, despite its proximity, this binary system still imposes intriguing questions about its current characteristics and past evolution. H. E. Bond et al. published decades of astronometric measurements of the Sirius system, determining the dynamical masses for Sirius A and B, and the orbital period. We have used these determinations, combined with photometric determinations for luminosity and spectroscopic determinations of effective temperature ( T _eff ) and metallicity, to model the evolution of the Sirius system using Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics. We have constructed a model grid calculated especially for this system and were able to obtain, for Sirius B, a progenitor mass of 6.0 ± 0.6 M _⊙ , yielding a white dwarf mass of 1.015 ± 0.189 M _⊙ . Our best determination for the age of the system is 203.6 ± 45 Myr with a metallicity of 0.0124. We have compared our best-fit models with the ones computed using TYCHO, YREC, and PARSEC, establishing external uncertainties. Our results are consistent with the observations and support a noninteracting past.
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spelling doaj-art-ff877fed4e2b4bdb8ecf56082bbf6d3b2025-08-20T02:18:03ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-0197714110.3847/1538-4357/ad8dd6Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESAMomin Y. Khan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7562-1675Barbara G. Castanheira1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7010-7637Department of Physics & Astronomy, Baylor University , Waco, TX 76798-7316, USA ; momin_khan1@baylor.eduDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Baylor University , Waco, TX 76798-7316, USA ; momin_khan1@baylor.eduSirius is the brightest star in the night sky and, despite its proximity, this binary system still imposes intriguing questions about its current characteristics and past evolution. H. E. Bond et al. published decades of astronometric measurements of the Sirius system, determining the dynamical masses for Sirius A and B, and the orbital period. We have used these determinations, combined with photometric determinations for luminosity and spectroscopic determinations of effective temperature ( T _eff ) and metallicity, to model the evolution of the Sirius system using Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics. We have constructed a model grid calculated especially for this system and were able to obtain, for Sirius B, a progenitor mass of 6.0 ± 0.6 M _⊙ , yielding a white dwarf mass of 1.015 ± 0.189 M _⊙ . Our best determination for the age of the system is 203.6 ± 45 Myr with a metallicity of 0.0124. We have compared our best-fit models with the ones computed using TYCHO, YREC, and PARSEC, establishing external uncertainties. Our results are consistent with the observations and support a noninteracting past.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8dd6White dwarf starsDA starsComputational astronomy
spellingShingle Momin Y. Khan
Barbara G. Castanheira
Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESA
The Astrophysical Journal
White dwarf stars
DA stars
Computational astronomy
title Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESA
title_full Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESA
title_fullStr Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESA
title_full_unstemmed Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESA
title_short Astrophysical Properties of the Sirius Binary System Modeled with MESA
title_sort astrophysical properties of the sirius binary system modeled with mesa
topic White dwarf stars
DA stars
Computational astronomy
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8dd6
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