Separation of composite spectra: The spectroscopic detection of an eclipsing binary star

Abstract

We present an iterative method that allows us to compute the individual spectra and radial velocities of the two stellar components of spectroscopic binaries. We applied this method to HD 143511 and detected the occurrence of eclipses at the conjunction phases. The orbital analysis provides minimum masses with errors of 1%. Absolute masses and radii were derived in two different ways: a) by combining information provided by radial velocities, rotational velocities, and spectral line intensities; and b) using light curves from the ASAS-3 database.