orvara: An Efficient Code to Fit Orbits Using Radial Velocity, Absolute, and/or Relative Astrometry

Abstract

We present an open-source Python package, Orbits from Radial Velocity, Absolute, and/or Relative Astrometry (orvara), to fit Keplerian orbits to any combination of radial velocity, relative astrometry, and absolute astrometry data from the Hipparcos-Gaia Catalog of Accelerations. By combining these three data types, one can measure precise masses and sometimes orbital parameters even when the observations cover a small fraction of an orbit. The computational performance of orvara is achieved with an eccentric anomaly solver 5-10 times faster than commonly used approaches and low-level memory management to avoid Python overheads and by analytically marginalizing out parallax, barycenter proper motion, and instrument-specific radial velocity zero-points. Through its integration with the Hipparcos and Gaia intermediate astrometry package htof, orvara can properly account for the epoch astrometry measurements of Hipparcos and the measurement times and scan angles of individual Gaia epochs. We configure orvara with modifiable .ini configuration files tailored to any specific stellar or planetary system. We demonstrate orvara with a case study application to a recently discovered white dwarf/main-sequence system, HD 159062. By adding absolute astrometry to literature radial velocity and relative astrometry data, our comprehensive Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis improves the precision of HD 159062B's mass by more than an order of magnitude to 0.6083-0.0073+0.0083 M . We also derive a low eccentricity and large semimajor axis, establishing HD 159062AB as a system that did not experience Roche lobe overflow.