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1. Close substellar-mass companions in stellar wide binaries: Discovery and characterization with APOGEE and Gaia DR2

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2349  

   Lewis, Hannah M ; Anguiano, Borja ; Majewski, Steven R ; Nidever, David L ; Badenes, Carles ; De Lee, Nathan ; Hasselquist, Sten ; Daher, Christine Mazzola ; Stassun, Keivan G ; Bizyaev, Dmitry ; et al ( September 2021 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Abstract We present a search for close, unresolved companions in a subset of spatially resolved Gaia wide binaries containing main-sequence stars within 200 pc of the Sun, utilizing the APOGEE–Gaia Wide Binary Catalog. A catalog of 37 wide binaries was created by selecting pairs of stars with nearly identical Gaia positions, parallaxes, and proper motions, and then confirming candidates to be gravitationally-bound pairs using APOGEE radial velocities. We identify close, unresolved stellar and substellar candidate companions in these multiple systems using (1) the Gaia binary main-sequence and (2) observed periodic radial velocity variations in APOGEE measurements due to the influence ofmore »a close substellar-mass companion. The studied wide binary pairs reveal a total of four stellar-mass close companions in four different wide binaries, and four substellar-mass close companion candidates in two wide binaries. The latter are therefore quadruple systems, with one substellar mass companion orbiting each wide binary component in an S-type orbit. Taken at face value, these candidate systems represent an enhancement of an order of magnitude over the expected occurrence rate of ∼2 per cent of stars having substellar companions >2 MJup within ∼100 day orbits; we discuss implications and possible explanations for this result. Finally, we compare chemical differences between the components of the wide binaries and the components of the candidate higher-order systems and find that any chemical influence or correlation due to the presence of close companions to wide binary stars is not discernible.« less
2. Multiplicity of Galactic luminous blue variable stars

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202040062  

   Mahy, L. ; Lanthermann, C. ; Hutsemékers, D. ; Kluska, J. ; Lobel, A. ; Manick, R. ; Miszalski, B. ; Reggiani, M. ; Sana, H. ; Gosset, E. ( January 2022 , Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   Context. Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are characterised by strong photometric and spectroscopic variability. They are thought to be in a transitory phase between O-type stars on the main sequence and the Wolf-Rayet stage. Recent studies also evoked the possibility that they might be formed through binary interaction. Only a few are known in binary systems so far, but their multiplicity fraction is still uncertain. Aims. We derive the binary fraction of the Galactic LBV population. We combine multi-epoch spectroscopy and long-baseline interferometry to probe separations from 0.1 to 120 mas around confirmed and candidate LBVs. Methods. We used a cross-correlationmore »technique to measure the radial velocities of these objects. We identified spectroscopic binaries through significant radial velocity variability with an amplitude larger than 35 km s −1 . We also investigated the observational biases to take them into account when we established the intrinsic binary fraction. We used CANDID to detect interferometric companions, derive their flux fractions, and their positions on the sky. Results. From the multi-epoch spectroscopy, we derive an observed spectroscopic binary fraction of 26 −10 +16 %. Considering period and mass ratio ranges from log( P orb ) = 0 − 3 (i.e. from 1 to 1000 days), q  = 0.1 − 1.0, and a representative set of orbital parameter distributions, we find a bias-corrected binary fraction of 62 −24 +38 %. Based on data of the interferometric campaign, we detect a binary fraction of 70 ± 9% at projected separations between 1 and 120 mas. Based on the derived primary diameters and considering the distances of these objects, we measure for the first time the exact radii of Galactic LBVs to be between 100 and 650  R ⊙ . This means that it is unlikely that short-period systems are included among LBV-like stars. Conclusions. This analysis shows for the first time that the binary fraction in the Galactic LBV population is large. If they form through single-star evolution, their orbit must be large initially. If they form through a binary channel, the implication is that either massive stars in short binary systems must undergo a phase of fully non-conservative mass transfer to be able to sufficiently widen the orbit to form an LBV, or that LBVs form through merging in initially binary or triple systems. Interferometric follow-up would provide the distributions of orbital parameters at more advanced stages and would serve to quantitatively test the binary evolution in massive stars.« less
3. The EREBOS project: Investigating the effect of substellar and low-mass stellar companions on late stellar evolution: Survey, target selection, and atmospheric parameters

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201936019  

   Schaffenroth, V. ; Barlow, B. N. ; Geier, S. ; Vučković, M. ; Kilkenny, D. ; Wolz, M. ; Kupfer, T. ; Heber, U. ; Drechsel, H. ; Kimeswenger, S. ; et al ( October 2019 , Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   Eclipsing post-common-envelope binaries are highly important for resolving the poorly understood, very short-lived common-envelope phase of stellar evolution. Most hot subdwarfs (sdO/Bs) are the bare helium-burning cores of red giants that have lost almost all of their hydrogen envelope. This mass loss is often triggered by common-envelope interactions with close stellar or even substellar companions. Cool companions to hot subdwarf stars such as late-type stars and brown dwarfs are detectable from characteristic light-curve variations – reflection effects and often eclipses. In the recently published catalog of eclipsing binaries in the Galactic Bulge and in the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert Systemmore »(ATLAS) survey, we discovered 125 new eclipsing systems showing a reflection effect seen by visual inspection of the light curves and using a machine-learning algorithm, in addition to the 36 systems previously discovered by the Optical Gravitational Lesing Experiment (OGLE) team. The Eclipsing Reflection Effect Binaries from Optical Surveys (EREBOS) project aims at analyzing all newly discovered eclipsing binaries of the HW Vir type (hot subdwarf + close, cool companion) based on a spectroscopic and photometric follow up to derive the mass distribution of the companions, constrain the fraction of substellar companions, and determine the minimum mass needed to strip off the red-giant envelope. To constrain the nature of the primary we derived the absolute magnitude and the reduced proper motion of all our targets with the help of the parallaxes and proper motions measured by the Gaia mission and compared those to the Gaia white-dwarf candidate catalog. It was possible to derive the nature of a subset of our targets, for which observed spectra are available, by measuring the atmospheric parameter of the primary, confirming that less than 10% of our systems are not sdO/Bs with cool companions but are white dwarfs or central stars of planetary nebula. This large sample of eclipsing hot subdwarfs with cool companions allowed us to derive a significant period distribution for hot subdwarfs with cool companions for the first time showing that the period distribution is much broader than previously thought and is ideally suited to finding the lowest-mass companions to hot subdwarf stars. The comparison with related binary populations shows that the period distribution of HW Vir systems is very similar to WD+dM systems and central stars of planetary nebula with cool companions. In the future, several new photometric surveys will be carried out, which will further increase the sample of this project, providing the potential to test many aspects of common-envelope theory and binary evolution.« less
4. The first view of δ Scuti and γ Doradus stars with the TESS mission

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz2787  

   Antoci, V. ; Cunha, M. S. ; Bowman, D. M. ; Murphy, S. J. ; Kurtz, D. W. ; Bedding, T. R. ; Borre, C. C. ; Christophe, S. ; Daszyńska-Daszkiewicz, J. ; Fox-Machado, L. ; et al ( October 2019 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   We present the first asteroseismic results for δ Scuti and γ Doradus stars observed in Sectors 1 and 2 of the TESS mission. We utilize the 2-min cadence TESS data for a sample of 117 stars to classify their behaviour regarding variability and place them in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram using Gaia DR2 data. Included within our sample are the eponymous members of two pulsator classes, γ Doradus and SX Phoenicis. Our sample of pulsating intermediate-mass stars observed by TESS also allows us to confront theoretical models of pulsation driving in the classical instability strip for the first time and show that mixing processesmore »in the outer envelope play an important role. We derive an empirical estimate of 74 per cent for the relative amplitude suppression factor as a result of the redder TESS passband compared to the Kepler mission using a pulsating eclipsing binary system. Furthermore, our sample contains many high-frequency pulsators, allowing us to probe the frequency variability of hot young δ Scuti stars, which were lacking in the Kepler mission data set, and identify promising targets for future asteroseismic modelling. The TESS data also allow us to refine the stellar parameters of SX Phoenicis, which is believed to be a blue straggler.

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5. The close binary fraction as a function of stellar parameters in APOGEE: a strong anticorrelation with α abundances

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa2859  

   Mazzola, Christine N ; Badenes, Carles ; Moe, Maxwell ; Koposov, Sergey E ; Kounkel, Marina ; Kratter, Kaitlin ; Covey, Kevin ; Walker, Matthew G ; Thompson, Todd A ; Andrews, Brett ; et al ( October 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   null (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT We use observations from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey to explore the relationship between stellar parameters and multiplicity. We combine high-resolution repeat spectroscopy for 41 363 dwarf and subgiant stars with abundance measurements from the APOGEE pipeline and distances and stellar parameters derived using Gaia DR2 parallaxes from Sanders & Das to identify and characterize stellar multiples with periods below 30 yr, corresponding to ΔRVmax ≳ 3 km s−1, where ΔRVmax is the maximum APOGEE-detected shift in the radial velocities. Chemical composition is responsible for most of the variation in the close binary fraction in our sample, with stellarmore »parameters like mass and age playing a secondary role. In addition to the previously identified strong anticorrelation between the close binary fraction and [Fe/H], we find that high abundances of α elements also suppress multiplicity at most values of [Fe/H] sampled by APOGEE. The anticorrelation between α abundances and multiplicity is substantially steeper than that observed for Fe, suggesting C, O, and Si in the form of dust and ices dominate the opacity of primordial protostellar discs and their propensity for fragmentation via gravitational stability. Near [Fe/H] = 0 dex, the bias-corrected close binary fraction (a < 10 au) decreases from ≈100 per cent at [α/H] = −0.2 dex to ≈15 per cent near [α/H] = 0.08 dex, with a suggestive turn-up to ≈20 per cent near [α/H] = 0.2. We conclude that the relationship between stellar multiplicity and chemical composition for sun-like dwarf stars in the field of the Milky Way is complex, and that this complexity should be accounted for in future studies of interacting binaries.« less