Radial velocity
Radial velocity is the velocity of an object in the direction of the line of sight (i.e. its speed straight towards or away from an observer). In astronomy, radial velocity most commonly refers a related concept known as the spectroscopic radial velocity. The spectroscopic radial velocity is the relative velocity between the source at emission and the observer at observation, as determined by spectroscopy. Light from an object with a substantial relative radial velocity at emission will be subject to the Doppler effect, so the frequency of the light decreases for objects that were receding (redshift) and increases for objects that were approaching (blueshift).
The radial velocity of a star or other luminous distant objects can be measured accurately by taking a high-resolution spectrum and comparing the measured wavelengths of known spectral lines to wavelengths from laboratory measurements. Radial velocity is the rate of chance of distance with respect to time. A positive radial velocity indicates the distance between the objects is or was increasing; a negative radial velocity indicates the distance between the source and observer is or was decreasing.
In many binary stars, the orbital motion usually causes radial velocity variations of several kilometers per second. As the spectra of these stars vary due to the Doppler effect, they are called spectroscopic binaries. Radial velocity can be used to estimate the masses of the stars, and some orbital elements, such as eccentricity and semimajor axis. The same method has also been used to detect planets around stars, in the way that the movement's measurement determines the planet's orbital period, while the resulting size of the displacement allows the calculation of the lower bound on a planet's mass. Radial velocity methods alone may only reveal a lower bound, since a large planet orbiting at a very high angle to the line of sight will perturb its star radially as much as a much smaller planet with an orbital plane on the line of sight. It has been suggested that planets with high eccentricities calculated by this method may be mimicking 2 planet systems of circular or near-circular resonant orbit.[1]
References
- ↑ Anglada-Escude. "How eccentric orbital solutions can hide planetary systems in 2:1 resonant orbits". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. http://fr.arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0809/0809.1275v1.pdf. (web Preprint)
See also
- Extrasolar planet
- Proper motion
- Doppler spectroscopy
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