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Register a new userAn Apparent Precessing Helical Outflow from a Massive Evolved Star: Evidence for Binary Interaction
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Massive, evolved stars play a crucial role in the metal-enrichment, dust budget, and energetics of the interstellar medium, however, the details of their evolution are uncertain because of their rarity and short lifetimes before exploding as supernovae. Discrepancies between theoretical predictions from single-star evolutionary models and observations of massive stars have evoked a shifting paradigm that implicates the importance of binary interaction. We present mid- to far-infrared observations from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) of a conical helix of warm dust ($sim180$ K) that appears to extend from the Wolf-Rayet star WR102c. Our interpretation of the helix is a precessing, collimated outflow that emerged from WR102c during a previous evolutionary phase as a rapidly rotating luminous blue variable. We attribute the precession of WR102c to gravitational interactions with an unseen compact binary companion whose orbital period can be constrained to $800,mathrm{d}<P<1400$ d from the inferred precession period, $tau_psim1.4times10^4$ yr, and limits imposed on the stellar and orbital parameters of the system. Our results concur with the range of orbital periods ($Plesssim1500$ d) where spin-up via mass exchange is expected to occur for massive binary systems.
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Stars are generally spherical, yet their gaseous envelopes often appear non-spherical when ejected near the end of their lives. This quirk is most notable during the planetary nebula phase when these envelopes become ionized. Interactions among stars in a binary system are suspected to cause the asymmetry. In particular, a precessing accretion disk around a companion is believed to launch point-symmetric jets, as seen in the prototype Fleming 1. Our discovery of a post common-envelope binary nucleus in Fleming 1 confirms that this scenario is highly favorable. Similar binary interactions are therefore likely to explain these kinds of outflows in a large variety of systems.
In this work, the photometric data from the American Association of Variable Star Observers are collected and analyzed on the SX Phoenicis star DY Pegasi (DY Peg). From the frequency analysis, we get three independent frequencies: $f_0 = 13.71249 rm{c days^{-1}}$, $f_1 = 17.7000 rm{c days^{-1}}$, and $f_2 =18.138 rm{c days^{-1}}$, in which $f_0$ and $f_1$ are the radial fundamental and first overtone mode, respectively, while $f_2$ is detected for the first time and should belong to a nonradial mode. The $O-C$ diagram of the times of maximum light shows that DY Peg has a period change rate $(1/P_0)(mathrm{d} P_0/mathrm{d} t) = -(5.87 pm 0.03) times 10^{-8} mathrm{yr^{-1}}$ for its fundamental pulsation mode, and should belong to a binary system that has an orbital period $P_{mathrm{orb}} = 15425.0 pm 205.7 mathrm{days}$. Based on the spectroscopic information, single star evolutionary models are constructed to fit the observed frequencies. However, some important parameters of the fitted models are not consistent with that from observations. Combing with the information from observation and theoretical calculation, we conclude that DY Peg should be an SX Phoenicis star in a binary system and accreting mass from a dust disk, which was the residue of its evolved companion (most probably a hot white dwarf at the present stage) produced in the asymptotic giant branch phase. Further observations are needed to confirm this inference, and it might be potentially a universal formation mechanism and evolutionary history for SX Phoenicis stars.
We present single-dish and VLBI observations of an outburst of water maser emission from the young binary system Haro 6-10. Haro 6-10 lies in the Taurus molecular cloud and contains a visible T Tauri star with an infrared companion 1.3 north. Using the Very Long Baseline Array, we obtained five observations spanning 3 months and derived absolute positions for 20 distinct maser spots. Three of the masers can be traced over 3 or more epochs, enabling us to extract absolute proper motions and tangential velocities. We deduce that the masers represent one side of a bipolar outflow that lies nearly in the plane of the sky with an opening angle of ~45deg. They are located within 50 mas of the southern component of the binary, the visible T Tauri star Haro 6-10S. The mean position angle on the sky of the maser proper motions (~220deg) suggests they are related to the previously observed giant Herbig-Haro (HH) flow which includes HH410, HH411, HH412, and HH184A-E. A previously observed HH jet and extended radio continuum emission (mean position angle of ~190deg) must also originate in the vicinity of Haro6-10S and represent a second, distinct outflow in this region. We propose that a yet unobserved companion within 150 mas of Haro6-10S is responsible for the giant HH/maser outflow while the visible star is associated with the HH jet. Despite the presence of H_2 emission in the spectrum of the northern component of the binary, Haro6-10N, none of outflows/jets can be tied directly to this young stellar object.
We present time-resolved optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy and photometry of V1460~Her, an eclipsing cataclysmic variable with a 4.99,h orbital period and an overluminous K5-type donor star. The optical spectra show emission lines from an accretion disc along with absorption lines from the donor. We use these to measure radial velocities, which, together with constraints upon the orbital inclination from photometry, imply masses of $M_1=0.869pm0.006,mathrm{M}_odot$ and $M_2=0.295pm0.004,mathrm{M}_odot$ for the white dwarf and the donor. The radius of the donor, $R_2=0.43pm0.002,mathrm{R}_odot$, is $approx 50$ per cent larger than expected given its mass, while its spectral type is much earlier than the M3.5 type that would be expected from a main sequence star with a similar mass. HST spectra show strong $mathrm{N{small V}}$ 1240 A emission but no $mathrm{C{small IV}}$ 1550 A emission, evidence for CNO-processed material. The donor is therefore a bloated, over-luminous remnant of a thermal-timescale stage of high mass transfer and has yet to re-establish thermal equilibrium. Remarkably, the HST ultraviolet data also show a strong 30 per cent peak-to-peak, $38.9,$s pulsation that we explain as being due to the spin of the white dwarf, potentially putting V1460 Her in a similar category to the propeller system AE Aqr in terms of its spin frequency and evolutionary path. AE Aqr also features a post-thermal timescale mass donor, and V1460 Her may therefore be its weak magnetic field analogue since the accretion disc is still present, with the white dwarf spin-up a result of a recent high accretion rate.
We have discovered a doubly eclipsing, bound, quadruple star system in the field of K2 Campaign 7. EPIC 219217635 is a stellar image with $Kp = 12.7$ that contains an eclipsing binary (`EB) with $P_A = 3.59470$ d and a second EB with $P_B = 0.61825$ d. We have obtained followup radial-velocity (`RV) spectroscopy observations, adaptive optics imaging, as well as ground-based photometric observations. From our analysis of all the observations, we derive good estimates for a number of the system parameters. We conclude that (1) both binaries are bound in a quadruple star system; (2) a linear trend to the RV curve of binary A is found over a 2-year interval, corresponding to an acceleration, $dot gamma = 0.0024 pm 0.0007$ cm s$^{-2}$; (3) small irregular variations are seen in the eclipse-timing variations (`ETVs) detected over the same interval; (4) the orbital separation of the quadruple system is probably in the range of 8-25 AU; and (5) the orbital planes of the two binaries must be inclined with respect to each other by at least 25$^circ$. In addition, we find that binary B is evolved, and the cooler and currently less massive star has transferred much of its envelope to the currently more massive star. We have also demonstrated that the system is sufficiently bright that the eclipses can be followed using small ground-based telescopes, and that this system may be profitably studied over the next decade when the outer orbit of the quadruple is expected to manifest itself in the ETV and/or RV curves.
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