The SDSS-het survey of Kepler eclipsing binaries: Spectroscopic dynamical masses of the Kepler-16 circumbinary planet hosts

Chad F. Bender, Suvrath Mahadevan, Rohit Deshpande, Jason T. Wright, Arpita Roy, Ryan C. Terrien, Steinn Sigurdsson, Lawrence W. Ramsey, Donald P. Schneider, Scott W. Fleming

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Abstract

We have used high-resolution spectroscopy to observe the Kepler-16 eclipsing binary as a double-lined system and measure precise radial velocities for both stellar components. These velocities yield a dynamical mass ratio of q = 0.2994 ± 0.0031. When combined with the inclination,i=903401 +0.0016-0.0019 measured from the Kepler photometric data by Doyle et al.(D11), we derive dynamical masses for the Kepler-16 components of M A=0.654 ± 0.017 M and MB = 0.1959 ± 0.0031 M , a precision of 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively. Our results confirm at the 2% level the mass-ratio derived by D11 with their photometric-dynamical model (PDM), q=0.2937 ± 0.0006. These are among the most precise spectroscopic dynamical masses ever measured for low-mass stars and provide an important direct test of the results from the PDM technique.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberL31
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume751
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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