J/A+A/597/A137ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/597/A137doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.35970137CDSKervella P.Bigot L.Gallenne A.Thevenin F.2017-01-23T12:13:02Z2017-01-23T13:12:32ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.frinterferometrymultiple-starsThe photospheric radius is one of the fundamental parameters governing the radiative equilibrium of a star. We report new observations of the nearest solar-type stars Alpha Centauri A (G2V) and B (K1V) with the VLTI/PIONIER optical interferometer. The combination of four configurations of the VLTI enable us to measure simultaneously the limb darkened angular diameter thetaLD and the limb darkening parameters of the two solar-type stars in the near-infrared H band (lambda=1.65um). We obtain photospheric angular diameters of {theta}_LD(A)_=8.502+/-0.038mas (0.43%) and {theta}_LD(B)_=5.999+/-0.025mas (0.42%), through the adjustment of a power law limb darkening model. We find H band power law exponents of {alpha}_(A)_=0.1404+/-0.0050 (3.6%) and {alpha}_(B)_=0.1545+/-0.0044 (2.8%), which closely bracket the observed solar value (alpha_{sun}_=0.15027). Combined with the parallax pi=747.17+/-0.61mas determined by Kervella et al. (2016), we derive linear radii of R_A_=1.2234+/-0.0053R_{sun}_ (0.43%) and R_B_=0.8632+/-0.0037R_{sun}_ (0.43%). The power law exponents that we derive for the two stars indicate a significantly weaker limb darkening than predicted by both 1D and 3D stellar atmosphere models. As this discrepancy is also observed on the near-infrared limb darkening profile of the Sun, an improvement of the calibration of stellar atmosphere models is clearly needed. The reported PIONIER visibility measurements of Alpha Cen A and B provide a robust basis to validate the future evolutions of these models.2017A&A...597A.137Khttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/597/A137CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toJ/A+A/586/A35 : TZ For OIFITS files (Gallenne+, 2016)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/597/A137https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/597/A137http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/597/A137https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/597/A137https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/597/A137http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/597/A137GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/A+A/597/A137/list (List of OIFITS files)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/597/A137/list?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/597/A137/list?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/597/A137/list?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true212.5996125.091460.0055555555555555566/8935 41763https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/A+A/597/A137?format=asciidefaultJ/A+A/597/A137/listList of OIFITS filesNameStar namemeta.id;meta.maincharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintRAJ2000OI target right ascension (J2000)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainDEJ2000OI target declination (J2000)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainEffWave1First Effective wavelengthkmem.wl.effectiveintEffWave2Second Effective wavelengthkmem.wl.effectiveintEffWave3Third Effective wavelengthkmem.wl.effectiveintEffWave4Fourth Effective wavelengthkmem.wl.effectiveintEffWave5Fith Effective wavelengthkmem.wl.effectiveintEffWave6sixth Effective wavelengthkmem.wl.effectiveintEffBandEffective bandkminstr.bandpassfloatsizeSize of OIFITS fileKibytephys.size;meta.fileintFileNameName of OIFITS file, in subdirectory oifitsmeta.id;meta.filecharTitleTitle of the OIFITS filemeta.title;meta.filechar