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Title: Close substellar-mass companions in stellar wide binaries: Discovery and characterization with APOGEE and Gaia DR2
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 of 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.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1909022 1801940
PAR ID:
10294860
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
ISSN:
0035-8711
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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