Resolved double-lined spectroscopic binaries: A neglected source of hypothesis-free parallaxes and stellar masses

¹ Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP. 226, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
² Royal Observatory of Belgium, Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Bruxelles, Belgium

Send offprint request to: D. Pourbaix, e-mail: pourbaix@astro.ulb.ac.be

Received: 21 September 1999
Accepted: 9 May 2000

Abstract

Double-lined spectroscopic binaries, once visually resolved (VB-SB2), provide hypothesis-free orbital parallaxes and masses of both components. Unlike eclipsing-spectroscopic binaries for which many accurate masses are already known (Andersen 1991; Andersen 1997), the number of VB-SB2 remains rather small. This paper presents 40 such systems for which published visual observations and radial velocities allow a simultaneous adjustment of both data sets. The precision of the individual masses as well as the evolution of that precision with respect to the published precision is investigated.