A Measurement of the Primordial Helium Abundance Using MU Cassiopeiae
Abstract
Speckle interferometric observations of the Population II astrometric binary star Mu Cas have been made at four epochs with a direct imaging CCD system. Using the available orbital data on the system, the masses of the stars have been found to be 0.728 +/- 0.049 solar mass and 0.171 +/- 0.008 solar mass. Application of the theoretical mass-luminosity law to the primary yields a helium abundance of 0.23 +/- 0.05 by mass for a metal abundance of Z = 0.0021 assuming a system age of 13 billion years.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 1992
- DOI:
- 10.1086/171415
- Bibcode:
- 1992ApJ...392..172H
- Keywords:
-
- Binary Stars;
- Helium;
- Speckle Interferometry;
- Stellar Composition;
- Abundance;
- Charge Coupled Devices;
- Stellar Luminosity;
- Stellar Mass;
- Astrophysics;
- STARS: ABUNDANCES;
- STARS: FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS;
- STARS: INDIVIDUAL CONSTELLATION NAME: MU CASSIOPEIAE;
- TECHNIQUES: INTERFEROMETRIC