Related papers: Orbital Parameters for the $250 M_\odot$ Eta Carin…
Binary pulsar systems are superb probes of stellar and binary evolution and the physics of extreme environments. In a survey with the Arecibo telescope, we have found PSR J1903+0327, a radio pulsar with a rotational period of 2.15 ms in a…
Eta Carinae (Eta Car) is one of the most massive binary stars in the Milky Way. It became the second-brightest star in the sky during its mid-19th century "Great Eruption," but then faded from view (with only naked-eye estimates of…
We run numerical simulations to study high-power wind accretion in a massive binary system during a high mass loss event. The system consists of an evolved primary star with a zero age main sequence mass of $ M_{1} = \rm 100~M_{\odot}$ and…
The rate of tidal circularization is predicted to be faster for relatively cool stars with convective outer layers, compared to hotter stars with radiative outer layers. Observing this effect is challenging, because it requires large and…
Type I outbursts in Be/X-ray binaries are usually associated with the eccentricity of the binary orbit. The neutron star accretes gas from the outer parts of the decretion disk around the Be star at each periastron passage. However, this…
We present the results of the study of the close binary UU Cassiopeiae based on previously published multi wavelength photometric and spectroscopic data. Based on eclipse timings of the last 117 years, we find an improved orbital period of…
Eta Car is one of the most intriguing luminous blue variables in the Galaxy. Observations and models at different wavelengths suggest a central binary with a 5.54 yr period residing in its core. 2D and 3D radiative transfer and hydrodynamic…
Planets and satellites orbiting a binary system exist in the solar system and extrasolar planetary systems. Their orbits can be significantly different from Keplerian orbits, if they are close to the binary and the secondary-to-primary mass…
Observations of binaries have traditionally provided the means for ascertaining stellar masses. Here, we use the published data on 8 pre-main-sequence pairs to gauge the accuracy of our own, recently calculated, evolutionary tracks (Palla &…
The eclipsing binary IT Librae is an unusual system of two B-type stars that is situated about 1 kpc above the galactic plane. The binary was probably ejected from its birthplace in the disk, but the implied time-of-flight to its current…
$\theta^1$ Ori E is a very young and relatively massive pre-main sequence (PMS) spectroscopic and eclipsing binary with nearly identical components. We analyze \'Echelle spectra of the system obtained over fifteen years and report 91 radial…
The previously known, 6-yr spectroscopic binary HR 6046 has been speculated in the past to contain a compact object as the secondary. A recent study has re-determined the orbit with great accuracy, and shown that the companion is an evolved…
The binary system $\eta$ Carinae is a unique laboratory in which to study particle acceleration to high energies under a wide range of conditions, including extremely high densities around periastron. To date, no consensus has emerged as to…
We report the results of a long-term spectroscopic monitoring of the FS\,CMa type object MWC\,728. We found that it is a binary system with a B5 Ve (T$_{\rm eff}$ = 14000$\pm$1000 K) primary and a G8 III type (T$_{\rm eff} \sim$ 5000 K)…
Massive stars that lose their hydrogen-rich envelope down to a few tenths of a solar mass explode as extended type IIb supernovae, an intriguing subtype that links the hydrogen-rich type II supernovae with the hydrogen-poor type Ib and Ic.…
This paper proposes a simple model for the 19th century eruption of Eta Carinae that consists of two components: (1) a strong wind (MdotM=0.33 Msun/yr; v=200 km/s), blowing for 30 years, followed by (2) a 1e50 erg explosion in 1844. The…
We use the accretion model to explain the early exit of Eta Carinae from its 2009 X-ray minimum. In the accretion model the secondary star accretes mass from the primary wind near periastron passage, a process that suppresses the secondary…
I propose that the relatively high eccentricity found in some tidally strongly interacting binary systems, where the mass-losing star is an evolved giant star, e.g., an asymptotic giant branch star, is caused by an enhanced mass loss rate…
Understanding the late-stage evolution of the most massive stars such as $\eta$ Carinae is challenging because no true analogs of $\eta$ Car have been clearly identified in the Milky Way or other galaxies. In Khan et. al. (2013), we…
A single-epoch low resolution GHRS spectrum of the eclipsing binary Epsilon Aurigae was obtained while the secondary was orbiting towards eclipse by the primary. The detected emission line profiles have the appearance of double- peaked…