2026-09-20T00:24:44Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/837792022-01-13T07:54:07Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131024
Saul A. Rappaport.
Tran, Kathy, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
2014-01-09T19:54:09Z
2014-01-09T19:54:09Z
2013
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83779
864908364
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-74).
In this thesis, we study the timing of eclipses for contact binary systems in the Kepler catalog. Observed eclipse times were determined from Kepler long-cadence light curves and "observed minus calculated" (0 - C) curves were generated for both primary and secondary eclipses of the contact binary systems. We found the 0 - C curves of contact binaries to be clearly distinctive from the curves of other binaries. The key characteristics of these curves are random-walk like variations, with typical semi-amplitudes of 200 to 300 seconds, quasi-periodicities, and anti-correlated behavior between the curves of the primary and secondary eclipses. We performed a formal analysis of systems with dominant anti-correlated behavior, calculating correlation coefficients as low as -0.77, with a mean value of -0.42. We dismiss several physical explanations to account for the observed the anti-correlation of the 0 - C curves. Instead, we propose a simple geometric model of a starspot that is continuously visible around the orbit.
by Kathy Tran.
S.B.
74 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by
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http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Physics.
The behavior of O - C curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog
Behavior of observed minus calculated curves for contact binaries in the Kepler catalog
Thesis
application/pdf
Publication
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<Abstract>In this thesis, we study the timing of eclipses for contact binary systems in the Kepler catalog. Observed eclipse times were determined from Kepler long-cadence light curves and "observed minus calculated" (0 - C) curves were generated for both primary and secondary eclipses of the contact binary systems. We found the 0 - C curves of contact binaries to be clearly distinctive from the curves of other binaries. The key characteristics of these curves are random-walk like variations, with typical semi-amplitudes of 200 to 300 seconds, quasi-periodicities, and anti-correlated behavior between the curves of the primary and secondary eclipses. We performed a formal analysis of systems with dominant anti-correlated behavior, calculating correlation coefficients as low as -0.77, with a mean value of -0.42. We dismiss several physical explanations to account for the observed the anti-correlation of the 0 - C curves. Instead, we propose a simple geometric model of a starspot that is continuously visible around the orbit.</Abstract>
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