Simon, Theodore

Contact Email: simon@ifa.hawaii.edu
Institute: Institute for Astronomy
University of Hawaii
First Coauthor: Gaspard Duchene
Institute: UCLA, Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Second Coauthor: Jerome Bouvier
Institute: Grenoble Observatory, Joseph Fourier University
Subject Area: Binary Stars: Non-interacting
Waveband: Infrared
Technique: Imaging (Direct)
Presentation: Poster Display
Title: An Adaptive Optics Search for Visual Binaries in M34
Abstract: M34 (NGC 1039) is a 220 Myr old open cluster. We have used the PUEO adaptive optics camera on the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) to carry out a search for visual binaries among the late-type members of the cluster. We have observed 94 stars and resolved 18 of them into close pairs. The observed separations range from 0.09 to 6.4 arcseconds, corresponding to 40-3000 AU (the latter being=20 a safe upper limit for bound solar-type binaries). Our survey was conducted at a single infrared wavelength, in the H band at 1.63 microns. Additional color information will be needed to eliminate possible field stars and to establish which of the observed doubles are bona fide physical pairs. If the observed binary candidates are=20 true companions, the masses we infer for the secondaries range from 0.09 to 1.5 (in solar units), and the mass ratios, q, range from 0.1 to 1.