Interferometric observations of the multiple stellar system delta Velorum

Abstract

delta Velorum is a nearby (24pc) triple stellar system, containing a close, eclipsing binary (Aa, Ab) discovered in 2000. Multiple systems provide an opportunity to determine the set of fundamental parameters (mass, luminosity, size and chemical composition) of coeval stars. These parameters can be obtained with particular precision in the case of eclipsing binaries; for delta Velorum's components (Aa, Ab) this potential has however not yet been exploited. We have analyzed interferometric observations of the close binary (Aa, Ab), obtained with the VINCI instrument and two VLTI siderostats. The measurements, which resolve the two components for the first time, are fitted onto the simple model of two uniformly bright, spherical stars. The observations suggest that Aa and Ab have larger diameters than expected if they were on the main sequence, and that they are, thus, in a later evolutionary state.

6 pages, Research Note accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (2)

• The diameters of Alpha Centauri A and B - A comparison of the asteroseismic and VINCI/VLTI views
• Rotational velocities of A-type stars I. Measurement of vsini in the southern hemisphere

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Modeling the Infrared Bow Shock at delta Velorum: Implications for Studies of Debris Disks and lambda Bootis Stars
• A catalog of visual double and multiple stars with eclipsing components
• The nearby eclipsing stellar system delta Velorum. II. First reliable orbit for the eclipsing pair
• The nearby eclipsing stellar system delta Velorum III. Self-consistent fundamental parameters and distance
• The nearby eclipsing stellar system delta Velorum - I. Origin of the infrared excess from VISIR and NACO imaging