Revised masses of alpha Centauri

With the precise radial velocities lately published (Murdoch et al., 1993), a simultaneous least-squares adjustment of all visual and spectroscopic ob servations of the alpha Centauri system is now possible and likely to yield some accurate information. Such an orbit determination leads to a mass rat io in agreement with the astrometric estimate of Kamper & Wesselink (1978) but yields upward revisions of the distance and masses. We examine the effe cts these revisions on the evolutionary status of the system.