Stellar mass determination
ID: stellar-mass-determination
Orbital dynamics gives the most direct stellar masses: a resolved binary orbit and distance determine the relative semimajor axis, and Kepler's third law gives the total mass. The barycentric size or radial-velocity amplitude ratio gives individual masses. An eclipsing binary inclination removes the sine-cubed projection factor from spectroscopic masses; a single-lined binary mass function alone does not uniquely determine both masses. Surface-gravity/radius and stellar-track estimates are model-dependent and are calibrated against dynamical binary measurements.
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