New distances for a selected set of visual binaries with inconsistent dynamical masses

We have selected a set of 17 visual binaries that demonstrate great inconsistency between the systemic mass obtained through Kepler’s Third Law as compared to that calculated through standard mass-luminosity and mass-spectrum relationships. A careful inspection of orbital data and parallaxes showed that the current orbits of nine binaries (WDS 00155–1608, WDS 00174+0853, WDS 05017+2050, WDS 06410+0954, WDS 16212–2536, WDS 17336–3706, WDS 19217–1557, WDS 20312+1116, and WDS 21118+5959) do not need to be improved, instead we recommend different parallax (distance) value for them. On the other hand, we considered that eight orbits (WDS 02366+1227, WDS 02434–6643, WDS 03244–1539, WDS 08507+1800, WDS 09128–6055, WDS 11532–1540, WDS 17375+2419, and WDS 22408–0333) had to be improved. Due to various reasons mentioned in this paper, their distances should most likely be corrected unless better orbital solutions and/or more precise parallaxes are reported. To obtain consistent mass values, the use of the dynamical parallax is still recommended for 5 out of the 8 improved orbits. For WDS 02434–6643, WDS 09128–6055, and WDS 11532–1540, the improvement itself yields reasonable mass sums while maintaining π Hip within a 1 – 2 σ margin. New distance estimates for 16 stars (mainly based on the obtained dynamical parallaxes) and individual comments for all objects are presented and discussed.