What value does the Binary Mass Function yield for the unseen star's mass if the system is viewed perfectly edge-on ($i = 90^ $)?
Answer
The true mass of the unseen star.
When the inclination $i$ is $90^ $, $ ext{sin } i = 1$. In this ideal case, the mass function yields the true mass of the unseen star, as opposed to the minimum estimate derived when $i < 90^ $.
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