Abstract We present Gaia DR2 2144465183642117888, a previously unknown, wide white dwarf companion to the HP Dra eclipsing binary system. This companion was discovered through the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science collaboration. It has separation of 14.″4 on the sky from the central eclipsing pair, translating to a projected separation of ∼1140 au. We present a review of the orbit and physical parameters of all the components in this now triple system.
more »
« less
WDJ220838.73+454434.04: a White Dwarf Companion in the AR Lacertae System
Abstract We present WDJ220838.73+454434.04 (hereafter WD2208+454), a wide, co-moving white dwarf companion to the eclipsing binary system, AR Lacertae. The companion was discovered through the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science collaboration. It has a separation of 21.″9 on the sky from the central eclipsing pair, translating to a projected separation of ∼930 au. We present a review of the physical properties and orbital parameters of this new addition to the system.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2009177
- PAR ID:
- 10484918
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Research Notes of the AAS
- Volume:
- 6
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 2515-5172
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 127
- Size(s):
- Article No. 127
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract We present the validation of a transiting low-density exoplanet orbiting the M2.5 dwarf TOI 620 discovered by the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. We utilize photometric data from both TESS and ground-based follow-up observations to validate the ephemerides of the 5.09 day transiting signal and vet false-positive scenarios. High-contrast imaging data are used to resolve the stellar host and exclude stellar companions at separations ≳0.″2. We obtain follow-up spectroscopy and corresponding precise radial velocities (RVs) with multiple precision radial velocity (PRV) spectrographs to confirm the planetary nature of the transiting exoplanet. We calculate a 5σupper limit ofMP< 7.1M⊕andρP< 0.74 g cm−3, and we identify a nontransiting 17.7 day candidate. We also find evidence for a substellar (1–20MJ) companion with a projected separation ≲20 au from a combined analysis of Gaia, adaptive optics imaging, and RVs. With the discovery of this outer companion, we carry out a detailed exploration of the possibilities that TOI 620 b might instead be a circum-secondary planet or a pair of eclipsing binary stars orbiting the host in a hierarchical triple system. We find, under scrutiny, that we can exclude both of these scenarios from the multiwavelength transit photometry, thus validating TOI 620 b as a low-density exoplanet transiting the central star in this system. The low density of TOI 620 b makes it one of the most amenable exoplanets for atmospheric characterization, such as with the James Webb Space Telescope and Ariel, validated or confirmed by the TESS mission to date.more » « less
-
Abstract We present a solution for the light curve of two bodies mutually transiting a star with polynomial limb darkening. The term “mutual transit” in this work refers to a transit of the star during which overlap occurs between the two transiting bodies. These could be an exoplanet with an exomoon companion, two exoplanets, an eclipsing binary and a planet, or two stars eclipsing a third in a triple-star system. We include analytic derivatives of the light curve with respect to the positions and radii of both bodies. We provide code that implements a photodynamical model for a mutual transit. We include two dynamical models, one for hierarchical systems in which a secondary body orbits a larger primary (e.g., an exomoon system) and a second for confocal systems in which two bodies independently orbit a central mass (e.g., two planets in widely separated orbits). Our code is fast enough to enable inference with Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms, and the inclusion of derivatives allows for the use of gradient-based inference methods such as Hamiltonian Monte Carlo. While applicable to a variety of systems, this work was undertaken primarily with exomoons in mind. It is our hope that making this code publicly available will reduce barriers for the community to assess the detectability of exomoons, conduct searches for exomoons, and attempt to validate existing exomoon candidates. We also anticipate that our code will be useful for studies of planet–planet transits in exoplanetary systems, transits of circumbinary planets, and eclipses in triple-star systems.more » « less
-
In a search for eclipsing white dwarfs using the Zwicky Transient Facility lightcurves, we identified a deep eclipsing white dwarf with a dark, substellar companion. The lack of an infrared excess and an orbital period of 10 hours made this a potential exoplanet candidate. We obtained high-speed photometry and radial velocity measurements to characterize the system. The white dwarf has a mass of 0.50±0.02M⊙ and a temperature of 10900±200K. The companion has a mass of 0.059±0.004M⊙ and a small radius of 0.0783±0.0013R⊙. It is one of the smallest transiting brown dwarfs known and likely old, ≳8Gyr. The ZTF discovery efficiency of substellar objects transiting white dwarfs is limited by the number of epochs and as ZTF continues to collect data we expect to find more of these systems. This will allow us to measure period and mass distributions and allows us to understand the formation channels of white dwarfs with substellar companions.more » « less
-
ABSTRACT We present the results of a search for deeply eclipsing white dwarfs in the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) Data Release 4 (DR4). We identify nine deeply eclipsing white dwarf candidates, four of which we followed up with high-cadence photometry and spectroscopy. Three of these systems show total eclipses in the ZTF data and our follow-up Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope observations. Even though the eclipse duration is consistent with sub-stellar companions, our analysis shows that all four systems contain a white dwarf with low-mass stellar companions of ∼0.1 M⊙. We provide mass and radius constraints for both stars in each system based on our photometric and spectroscopic fitting. Finally, we present a list of 41 additional eclipsing WD+M candidates identified in a preliminary search of ZTF DR7, including 12 previously studied systems. We identify two new candidate short-period, eclipsing, white dwarf–brown dwarf binaries within our sample of 41 WD+M candidates based on Pan-STARRS colours.more » « less
An official website of the United States government
