Synthetic Spectra of Rotating Stars

Abstract

Many early-type stars have oblate surfaces, spatial temperature variations, and spectral line broadening that indicate large rotational velocities. Rotation ought to have a significant effect on the full spectra of such stars. To infer structural and life history parameters from their spectra, one must integrate specific intensity over the two-dimensional surfaces of corresponding stellar models. Toward this end, we offer Paint the Atmospheres of Rotating Stars—an integration scheme based on models that incorporate solid body rotation, Roche mass distribution, and collinearity of gravity and energy flux. The scheme features a closed-form expression for the azimuthal integral, a high-order numerical approximation of the longitudinal integral, and a precise calculation of surface effective temperature at rotation rates up to 99.9% of the Keplerian limit. Extensions of the scheme include synthetic color–magnitude diagrams and planetary transit curves.