The CHARA Catalog of Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binary Stars

Abstract

Optical interferometry is entering a new age, with several ground-based long-baseline observatories now making observations of unprecedented resolution. Interferometers bring a new level of resolution to bear on spectroscopic binaries, enabling the full extraction of the physical parameters for the component stars with high accuracy. In the case of double-lined systems, a geometrically determined orbital parallax becomes available as well. The first step in preparing to observe spectroscopic binaries is to list them, which has not been done since the 1989 publication of the Eighth Catalogue of the Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binaries by Batten et al. We present a new catalog with roughly half again as many listings as the Eighth Catalogue. Angular separation predictions are made for each catalog entry. The numbers of spectroscopic binaries available for study as a function of several important observational parameters are explored, and in particular, the number of spectroscopic binaries as a function of expected separation is discussed.