Long-period eclipsing binaries: towards the true mass-luminosity relation. I. the test sample, observations and data analysis

Abstract

Abstract The mass-luminosity relation is a fundamental law of astrophysics. We have suggested that the currently used mass-luminosity relation is not correct for the M/M ⊙ > 2.7 range of mass since it was created utilizing double-lined eclipsing binaries, where the components are synchronized and consequently change each other’s evolutionary path. To exclude this effect, we have started a project to study long-period massive eclipsing binaries in order to construct radial velocity curves and determine masses for the components. We outline our project and present the selected test sample together with the first HRS/SALT spectral observations and the software package, Fitting Binary Stars (fbs), that we developed for the analysis of our spectral data. As the first result, we present the radial velocity curves and best-fit orbital elements for the two components of the FP Car binary system from our test sample.