Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Gatewood, G..
This oral presentation describes the Astrometric Imaging Telescope as a space-based observatory designed to detect and study planetary systems and circumstellar material around hundreds of nearby stars.
An end-to-end modelling program for an astrometric telescope employing a Ronchi ruling has been developed. The program models the aberrated images formed anywhere in the field-of-view. It then determines apparent centroids by simulating the motion of a Ronchi ruling across the field. Photo-electron statistics are included. A 6-term plate-constant model is used to determine the apparent motion of a target star within a reference frame as the object is re-observed through both ideal and perturbed optics. The modelling code is accurate at the submicroarcsecond level. optics. The modelling code is accurate at the submicroarcsecond level.
The importance of photon counts as a factor in the accuracy of astrometric positions is illustrated by a preliminary look at data collected with the Allegheny Observatory's photon-counting detector, the Multichannel Astrometric Photometer. Twenty estimates are plotted of the standard errors, per hour, of astrometric positions obtained with the photometer and the blue-light lens of the observatory's 30-inch refractor. The agreement between the estimated standard errors in the X and Y coordinates supports the conclusion that, as predicted by Drake, the accuracy is dependent upon the count rate.
A technique for estimating trigonometric parallaxes in a matter of days or weeks is presented. The technique relies on the discrepancy between the instantaneous proper motion and the proper motion of a star. The main sources of error in the method are the standard error of the individual observations (0.004 arcsec) and the arbitrary limit placed on the observation interval. The parallactic motion of an MO dwarf of known parallax and a blue magnitude of 11.2 is determined. The slope inferred is within 10 percent of the value (0.555 arcsec) derived from a 1.5-year study of Barnard's star. It is concluded that the technique, if used on the same time scale as conventional techniques, would yield results of much higher accuracy.
A variety of data are presented concerning the spectrum, distance, temperature, and evolutionary state of the hot white dwarf HZ 43, the first extrasolar object to be detected in the EUV band. The data include spectrophotometry of the star and its red dwarf companion (HZ 43B), a trigonometric parallax for the star, its tangential velocity, and results of soft X-ray and EUV observations. The main conclusions are that: (1) the spectrum of HZ 43A is that of a hot DAwk star, (2) HZ 43B is a dM3.5e star, (3) the distance of the system is about 65 pc, (4) the tangential velocity is not atypical of white dwarfs, and (5) the stellar energy distribution of HZ 43A is well fitted by a black body with an effective temperature of approximately 110,000 K. Evolutionary implications of the existence of an object as hot as HZ 43A are briefly considered, and it is suggested that the progenitors of hot DA stars must include objects hotter than spectral type sdB, with logical possibilities being nuclei of planetary nebulae and sdO stars.
The positions and proper motions of HZ Her, the optical counterpart of the X-ray source Her X-1, and 12 field stars are determined in the system of the FK4. The proper motion of HZ Her is consistent with that expected for an object with a relatively low peculiar velocity located at the approximate 3-kpc distance estimated for Her X-1.
The star system, 13 Ceti, consists of a short-period visual binary whose primary is itself a single-line spectroscopic binary. Currently existing data regarding the considered stellar system are examined, taking into account certain discrepancies. It is pointed out that the spectral type of the combined light of the system complicates any attempt to explain the observed overluminosity in terms of stellar evolution. Additional studies are recommended to clarify remaining questions concerning the characteristics of the stellar system.