No Arabic abstract
This paper details speckle observations of binary stars taken at the Lowell Discovery Telescope, the WIYN Telescope, and the Gemini telescopes between 2016 January and 2019 September. The observations taken at Gemini and Lowell were done with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI), and those done at WIYN were taken with the successor instrument to DSSI at that site, the NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Star and Speckle Imager (NESSI). In total, we present 378 observations of 178 systems and we show that the uncertainty in the measurement precision for the combined data set is ~2 mas in separation, ~1-2 degrees in position angle depending on the separation, and $sim$0.1 magnitudes in magnitude difference. Together with data already in the literature, these new results permit 25 visual orbits and one spectroscopic-visual orbit to be calculated for the first time. In the case of the spectroscopic-visual analysis, which is done on the trinary star HD 173093, we calculate masses with precision of better than 1% for all three stars in that system. Twenty-one of the visual orbits calculated have a K dwarf as the primary star; we add these to the known orbits of K dwarf primary stars and discuss the basic orbital properties of these stars at this stage. Although incomplete, the data that exist so far indicate that binaries with K dwarf primaries tend not to have low-eccentricity orbits at separations of one to a few tens of AU, that is, on solar-system scales.
We present results from Speckle inteferometric observations of fifteen visual binaries and one double-line spectroscopic binary, carried out with the HRCam Speckle camera of the SOAR 4.1 m telescope. These systems were observed as a part of an on-going survey to characterize the binary population in the solar vicinity, out to a distance of 250 parsec. We obtained orbital elements and mass sums for our sample of visual binaries. The orbits were computed using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm that delivers maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters, as well as posterior probability density functions that allow us to evaluate their uncertainty. Their periods cover a range from 5 yr to more than 500 yr; and their spectral types go from early A to mid M - implying total system masses from slightly more than 4 MSun down to 0.2 MSun. They are located at distances between approximately 12 and 200 pc, mostly at low Galactic latitude. For the double-line spectroscopic binary YSC8 we present the first combined astrometric/radial velocity orbit resulting from a self-consistent fit, leading to individual component masses of 0.897 +/- 0.027 MSun and 0.857 +/- 0.026 MSun; and an orbital parallax of 26.61 +/- 0.29 mas, which compares very well with the Gaia DR2 trigonometric parallax (26.55 +/- 0.27 mas). In combination with published photometry and trigonometric parallaxes, we place our objects on an H-R diagram and discuss their evolutionary status. We also present a thorough analysis of the precision and consistency of the photometry available for them.
Using light curves from the HATNet survey for transiting extrasolar planets we investigate the optical broad-band photometric variability of a sample of 27,560 field K and M dwarfs selected by color and proper-motion. A total of 2120 stars exhibit potential variability, including 95 stars with eclipses and 60 stars with flares. Based on a visual inspection of these light curves and an automated blending classification, we select 1568 stars, including 78 eclipsing binaries, as secure variable star detections that are not obvious blends. We estimate that a further ~26% of these stars may be blends with fainter variables, though most of these blends are likely to be among the hotter stars in our sample. We find that only 38 of the 1568 stars, including 5 of the eclipsing binaries, have previously been identified as variables or are blended with previously identified variables. One of the newly identified eclipsing binaries is 1RXS J154727.5+450803, a known P = 3.55 day, late M-dwarf SB2 system, for which we derive preliminary estimates for the component masses and radii of M_1 = M_2 = 0.258 +- 0.008 M_Sun and R_1 = R_2 = 0.289 +- 0.007 R_Sun. The radii of the component stars are larger than theoretical expectations if the system is older than ~200 Myr. The majority of the variables are heavily spotted BY Dra-type stars for which we determine rotation periods. Using this sample, we investigate the relations between period, color, age, and activity measures, including optical flaring, for K and M dwarfs., finding that many of the well-established relations for F, G and K dwarfs continue into the M dwarf regime (Abridged).
Constraints from surveys of post common envelope binaries (PCEBs) consisting of a white dwarf plus an M-dwarf companion have led to significant progress in our understanding of the formation of close white dwarf binary stars with low-mass companions. The white dwarf binary pathways project aims at extending these previous surveys to larger secondary masses, i.e. secondary stars of spectral type AFGK. Here we present the discovery and observational characterization of three PCEBs with G-type secondary stars and orbital periods between 1.2 and 2.5 days. Using our own tools as well as MESA we estimate the evolutionary history of the binary stars and predict their future. We find a large range of possible evolutionary histories for all three systems and identify no indications for differences in common envelope evolution compared to PCEBs with lower mass secondary stars. Despite their similarities in orbital period and secondary spectral type, we estimate that the future of the three systems are very different: TYC 4962-1205-1 is a progenitor of a cataclysmic variable system with an evolved donor star, TYC 4700-815-1 will run into dynamically unstable mass transfer that will cause the two stars to merge, and TYC 1380-957-1 may appear as super soft source before becoming a rather typical cataclysmic variable star.
Barium stars are thought to result from binary evolution in systems wide enough to allow the more massive component to reach the asymptotic giant branch and eventually become a CO white dwarf. While Ba stars were initially known only among giant or subgiant stars, some were subsequently discovered also on the main sequence (and known as dwarf Ba stars). We provide here the orbital parameters of three dwarf Ba stars, completing the sample of 27 orbits published recently by Escorza et al. with these three southern targets. We show that these new orbital parameters are consistent with those of other dwarf Ba stars.
The orbits of 8 systems with low-mass components (HIP 14524, HIP 16025, HIP 28671, HIP 46199, HIP 47791, HIP 60444, HIP 61100 and HIP 73085) are presented. Speckle interferometric data were obtained at the 6 m Big Alt-azimuth Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences (BTA SAO RAS) from 2007 to 2019. New data, together with measures already in the literature, made it possible to improve upon previous orbital solutions in six cases and to construct orbits for the first time in the two remaining cases (HIP 14524 and HIP 60444). Mass sums are obtained using both Hipparcos and Gaia parallaxes, and a comparison with previously published values is made. Using the Worley & Heintz criteria, the classiffcation of the orbits constructed is carried out.