Question

The surface temperature of one component of an eclipsing binary is 15,000 K, and that of the other is 5000 K. The cooler star is a giant with a radius four times that of the hotter star.

(a) What is the ratio of the stellar luminosities?

(b) Which star is eclipsed at the primary minimum?

(c) Is the primary minimum a total or an annular eclipse? (HINT: assume you are viewing the system edge-on, i.e. that the inclination angle is 90^o).

(d) Primary minimum is how many times deeper than secondary minimum (in energy units)?

(i.e. what is the ratio of the brightnesses at primary and secondary minimum?)

Answer 1