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Evolution of Contact Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2015

O. Vilhu  and
T. Rahunen
O. Vilhu
Affiliation:
Observatory and Astrophysics Laboratory, University of Helsinki, Finland
T. Rahunen
Affiliation:
Observatory and Astrophysics Laboratory, University of Helsinki, Finland

Abstract

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The evolution of contact binaries with common convective envelopes has been studied. Gravitational energy due to the mass exchange is taken into account in both stars, which turned out to be of crucial importance. Three qualitatively different evolutionary tracks have been found for an initial system 1.2M⊙ + 1.0M⊙. One of these corresponds to those found by Moss (1971), in which mass transfers, on a long time scale (≈5 × 108 yr), from the less massive component to the heavier. The second is similar to the solution found by Hazlehurst and Meyer-Hofmeister (1973), in which the evolution proceeds towards equal masses in a much shorter time scale (≈2 × 107 yr). The third possibility is similar to the first one, but its time scale is 10 times shorter (≈5 × 107 yr). The true evolutionary track may well oscillate randomly around the different solutions (rapid period changes).

Type
Research Article
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 73: Structure and Evolution of Close Binary Systems , 1976 , pp. 337 - 341
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1976 

References

Hazlehurst, J. and Meyer-Hofmeister, E.: 1973, Astron. Astrophys. 24, 379.Google Scholar
Moss, D. L.: 1971, Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 153, 41.Google Scholar