Binary Star Orbits. V. The Nearby White Dwarf/Red Dwarf Pair 40 Eri BC
Mason, Brian D.; Hartkopf, William I.; Miles, Korie N.
United States
Abstract
A new relative orbit solution with new dynamical masses is determined for the nearby white dwarf-red dwarf pair 40 Eri BC. The period is 230.29 ± 0.68 years. It is predicted to close slowly over the next half-century, getting as close as 1"32 in early 2066. We determine masses of 0.573 ± 0.018 M⊙ for the white dwarf and 0.2036 ± 0.0064 M⊙ for the red dwarf companion. The inconsistency of the masses determined by gravitational redshift and dynamical techniques, due to a premature orbit calculation, no longer exists.