Publications
of the
MPIfR Optical & Infrared Interferometry Group

T. Preibisch, H. Zinnecker, G. Weigelt, K.-H. Hofman, D. Schertl, Y. Balega

Star Formation from the Small to the Large Scale

Proceedings of Star Formation from the Small to the Large Scale
33rd ESLAB Symposium, ESA Special Publications series SP-445, p. 495-498 (2000)

Abstract. We present the results of a bispectrum speckle interferometric survey for binaries among the massive stars in the Orion Nebula cluster. Observations of 13 bright cluster members of spectral type O or B reveal 8 visual companions in total. Using the flux ratios of the resolved systems to estimate the masses of the companions, we find that the systems generally have mass ratios below 0.5. Extrapolation with correction for the unresolved systems suggests that there are at least 1.5 companions per primary star on average. This number is clearly higher than the corresponding number for low-mass primaries, suggesting that a different mechanism is at work in the formation of high-mass multiple systems than for low-mass multiple systems.
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