Department of Astronomy
Edward C. Olson
Professor
Ph.D., Indiana University, 1961
olsomed@astro.uiuc.edu
Mass and angular momentum transfer and loss occur in evolving binary
stars. Where the mass-transferring stream strikes the photosphere of
the mass-gaining star, that star's outer layers may become highly
distorted, producing largely unknown evolutionary effects. In
longer-period systems, the stream may supply a true accretion disks,
which can be studied in considerable detail using disk emission and
absorption lines and continuum. Through angular momentum accretion,
mass-gaining stars may rotate close to their stability limit.
Mass-losing stars may be nearly stripped down to their evolved cores,
with implications for nuclear abundances. My research deals with
spectroscopic and photometric observations of these types of
interacting binaries, and with the development of physical models to
explain these observations.
Selected Publications:
"OI 7774 Absorption as a Tracer of Streams and Disks in Binary
Stars" (with P.B. Etzel & M.C. Senay) 1995, AJ, 109, 1269
"Rapid H-alpha Emission Variations in Most Accretion Disks in Long-
Period Algols" (with P.B. Etzel) 1995, AJ, 109, 1308
"DN Orionis: New Multi-Color Photometric Observations,
Spectroscopic Observations, and Light and Velocity Solutions"
(with P.B. Etzel). 1995, AJ, 110, 1809
"UX Monocerotis: New Photometric and Spectroscopic Observations,
Solutions, and Anomalies in an Active Mass-Transferring Binary"
(with P.B. Etzel) 1995, AJ, 110, 2385