Cepheid Variables Velocity Graph Analysis When the radial velocity data for a Cepheid variable star is graphed, a considerable amount of information can become available. This presentation is a suggestion of some areas of analysis. For this discussion, the Cepheid RT Aurigae will be used, but any Cepheid where a significant number of accurate radial velocity measurements have been determined can be equally analyzed. The above graphs show both the radial velocity data and the brightness data of RT Aurigae (per Duncan). We are most specifically interested here in the radial velocity graph. This is a "smoothed curve" graph and is a best-fit to a group of around 25 data points. The radial velocity data generally has significant error factors since the values are determined entirely by rather subtle Doppler shifts in the spectral lines. Therefore, the raw data is less useful for these purposes, and a smoothed curve is used here. Acceleration Data, or Gravitational Force Data This graph shows that RT Aurigae varies in apparent radial velocity from about +38.5 km/sec to +4.3 km/sec, and that the curve is asymmetric. The upward sloped portion in the middle of this graph has relatively constant slope. This slope represents the part of the cycle from approximately median radius while expanding outward to the later median radius while collapsing. This is generally assumed to be a ballistic movement due exclusively to gravitational force.

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The relative constancy of this slope suggests a relative constant accelerating force is acting during that extended portion of the velocity curve. That force is assumed to be the "surface gravity" of the star, and that the material involved is therefore following a normal ballistic path from soon after the point of having the most outward velocity to just before having the greatest inward velocity.

Since Newton's Laws show that only the mass and radius of an object are involved in establishing the surface gravity of any celestial object, this slope value seems to represent an extremely accurate value which can be used to establish either the radius or the mass if the other is known.

The actual calculations are as follows:

The current estimates for RT Aurigae are:
M_star = 5.0 * M_Sun
r_star = 38 * r_Sun
The surface acceleration on the Sun, G_Sun, is around 270 m/s²

These accepted values give a surface gravitational acceleration for RT Aurigae, G_star, of 0.93 m/sec². This value seems certainly incorrect by a factor of about six, as the slope of the velocity curve (calculated above, around 0.16 m/sec²) must certainly represent a very reliable value for that acceleration. This seems to suggest that the currently accepted values for either the radius or mass, or both, of RT Aurigae must be incorrect. This seems to suggest some serious problems. If the mass of that giant star is actually only 1/6 the accepted value, then its total mass is less than the Sun, which seems unlikely. If the radius is 2.4 times as large as the accepted value, the star seems unreasonably large.

A possible implication from this is that the glowing gases that we sense with our spectroscopes might be well above the actual surface of the star, which could allow the acceleration value found from the velocity slope to be compatible with a relatively realistic size and mass star.

The acceleration information for the entire cycle can be found by differentiating the velocity graph by time. The resulting values for RT Aurigae from the graph above are included in a table below. The good constancy of the amplitude of that acceleration from Phase 0.080 to 0.640 seems to imply that the glowing material is following a ballistic course, where only gravitational attraction is affecting it. If there was fluid resistance of any sort, as if in a volume that also contained other interfering gases, these glowing materials would certainly attain a Terminal Velocity and cease to further accelerate. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that everything in the vicinity of the glowing material is moving ballistically together. In some Cepheids that appear to have a velocity curve distortion roughly in the center of that slope, that could be an indication of a harmonic pulsing, where a collapsing shell of material momentarily encounters an outward moving shell, causing a brief deceleration of both shells.

Radial Distance Data

The actual distance range is certainly greater than this because of the geometry of the situation. The spectrum that we receive is certainly an "average" spectrum for the full area of the star's disk that is exposed to us. The certain spherical shape of the star means that we would see a Doppler shift that is more representative of a large radiating area of the star centered on the sub-Earth point, and it is generally accepted that the actual radial velocity of the sub-Earth point would always be around 1.4 times what we measure. This implies that the total range of radial movement of RT Aurigae is probably in excess of 2.2 million km.

Finer Details

Differential Gravitation Effects

Differential Driving Accelerations, Forces

In addition, if that third derivative curve can be accurately developed for that portion of the cycle, and therefore accurate information regarding the dependency of necessary "rebounding force" on radius, then an additional dimension might be developed. A specific radius might be identified (inside the star) as being critical to defining the pulsation process, which would add additional information to our knowledge and theories regarding Cepheids. If the meager data from this sample could be relied on, then the rebounding / repulsive force, which was likely around zero at the median radius, had gotten to six times the local gravitational force, one to counteract that gravitation and five more to create the acceleration. This great change happened in around 806,000 km of radius difference. It is suggested that an accurate data plot might be extrapolated to a "critical radius" that would represent an apparent infinite repulsive force. This data seems to suggest that such a radius would not be very deep inside RT Aurigae. Further analysis in this direction was not done, due to the small number of data points in this sample.

Data on RT Aurigae derived from the Duncan Graph Above

After Phase 0.840, the Relative Velocity changes from positive to negative, which indicates the end of the collapse, at a star radius a little more than 806,000 km smaller than its median radius. at this time, the outward acting acceleration reaches its peak amplitude, around 5 times as large as the local gravitational acceleration would be.

In the (Measured) Radial Velocity column and Relative Radial Velocity column, plus numbers mean moving away from Earth. The opposite is true in the Acceleration column, where negative values indicate acceleration away from us, toward the center of the star, or a gravitational collapsing effect. The (Measured) Radial Velocity column is the value calculated from the Doppler shift of the lines of the spectrum. The (Center-of-mass) Relative Radial Velocity column is the value after the constant receding velocity (21.60 km/sec) of the star is eliminated, and is therefore the actual relative radial velocity of the surface, from the reference frame of the center of the star. In the distance column, the values indicate a differential radius of the star, so negative values represent a smaller star and positive values represent an expanded star.

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C Johnson, Theoretical Physicist, Physics Degree from Univ of Chicago