The Cepheid AW Per is a component in a multiple system with a long-period orbit. The radial velocities of Griffin cover the 38 yr orbit well. An extensive program of interferometry with the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy array is reported here, from which the long-period orbit is determined. In addition, a Hubble Space Telescope high-resolution spectrum in the ultraviolet demonstrates that the companion is itself a binary with nearly equal-mass components. These data combined with a distance from Gaia provide a mass of the Cepheid (primary) of
This content will become publicly available on August 1, 2025
The 30 yr orbit of the Cepheid Polaris has been followed with observations by the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array from 2016 through 2021. An additional measurement has been made with speckle interferometry at the Apache Point Observatory. Detection of the companion is complicated by its comparative faintness—an extreme flux ratio. Angular diameter measurements appear to show some variation with pulsation phase. Astrometric positions of the companion were measured with a custom grid-based model-fitting procedure and confirmed with the CANDID software. These positions were combined with the extensive radial velocities (RVs) discussed by Torres to fit an orbit. Because of the imbalance of the sizes of the astrometry and RV data sets, several methods of weighting are discussed. The resulting mass of the Cepheid is 5.13 ± 0.28
- Award ID(s):
- 2034336
- PAR ID:
- 10536139
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 971
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 190
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
Abstract M 1= 6.79 ± 0.85M ⊙. The combined mass of the secondary isM S= 8.79 ± 0.50M ⊙. The accuracy of the mass will be improved after the fourth Gaia data release, expected in approximately two years. -
Abstract AQ Col (EC 05217-3914) is one of the first detected pulsating subdwarf B (sdB) stars and has been considered to be a single star. Photometric monitoring of AQ Col reveals a pulsation timing variation with a period of 486 days, interpreted as time delay due to reflex motion in a wide binary formed with an unseen companion with expected mass larger than 1.05
M ⊙. The optical spectra and color–magnitude diagram of the system suggested that the companion is not a main-sequence star but a white dwarf or neutron star. The pulsation timing variation also shows that the system has an eccentricity of 0.424, which is much larger than any known sdB long period binary system. That might be due to the existence of another short period companion to the sdB star. Two optical spectra obtained on 1996 December 5 show a radial velocity change of 49.1 km s−1in 46.1 minutes, which suggests the hot subdwarf in the wide binary is itself a close binary formed with another unseen white dwarf or neutron star companion; if further observations show this interpretation to be correct, AQ Col is an interesting triple system worthy of further study. -
Abstract We report the detection of 15 GHz radio continuum emission associated with the classical Cepheid variable star
δ Cephei (δ Cep) based on observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. Our results constitute the first probable detection of radio continuum emission from a classical Cepheid. We observed the star at pulsation phaseϕ ≈ 0.43 (corresponding to the phase of maximum radius and minimum temperature) during three pulsation cycles in late 2018 and detected statistically significant emission (>5σ ) during one of the three epochs. The observed radio emission appears to be variable at a ≳10% level on timescales of days to weeks. We also present an upper limit on the 10 GHz flux density at pulsation phaseϕ = 0.31 from an observation in 2014. We discuss possible mechanisms that may produce the observed 15 GHz emission, but cannot make a conclusive identification from the present data. The emission does not appear to be consistent with originating from a close-in, late-type dwarf companion, although this scenario cannot yet be strictly excluded. Previous X-ray observations have shown thatδ Cep undergoes periodic increases in X-ray flux during pulsation phaseϕ ≈ 0.43. The lack of radio detection in two out of three observing epochs atϕ ≈ 0.43 suggests that either the radio emission is not linked with a particular pulsation phase, or else that the strength of the generated radio emission in each pulsation cycle is variable. -
Abstract High-eccentricity migration is a likely formation mechanism for many observed hot Jupiters, particularly those with a large misalignment between the stellar spin axis and orbital angular momentum axis of the planet. In one version of high-eccentricity migration, an inclined stellar companion excites von Zeipel–Lidov–Kozai (ZLK) eccentricity oscillations of a cold Jupiter, and tidal dissipation causes the planet’s orbit to shrink and circularize. Throughout this process, the stellar spin can evolve chaotically, resulting in highly misaligned hot Jupiters (HJs). Previous population studies of this migration mechanism have assumed that the stellar spin is aligned with the planetary orbital angular momentum when the companion begins to induce ZLK oscillations. However, in the presence of a binary companion, the star’s obliquity may be significantly excited during the dissipation of its protoplanetary disk. We calculate the stellar obliquities produced in the protoplanetary disk phase and use these to perform an updated population synthesis of ZLK-driven high-eccentricity migration with an F-type host star. We find that the resulting obliquity distribution of HJ systems is predominantly retrograde with a broad peak near 90°. The distribution we obtain has intriguing similarities to the recently observed preponderance of perpendicular planets close to their host stars.
-
A catalogue of binary stars from phase modulation in the first four years of TESS mission photometry
ABSTRACT We present a catalogue of binary companions to $\delta$ Scuti stars, detected through phase modulations of their pulsations in Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data. Pulsation timing has provided orbits for hundreds of pulsating stars in binaries from space-based photometry. We have applied this technique to $\delta$ Sct stars observed in the first four years of TESS mission photometry. We searched the 2-min cadence light curves of 1161 short-period instability strip pulsators for variations in pulsation phase caused by the dynamical influence of an unseen companion. We discovered 53 new binaries and we present orbital parameters and mass functions for the 24 systems with solvable orbits. For the brightest star in our sample $\alpha$ Pictoris, we perform a joint fit of the pulsation timing and Hipparcos astrometry. We present the first orbit for the $\alpha$ Pictoris system, obtaining an orbital period of 1316 $\pm$ 2 d and a mass for $\alpha$ Pic B of 1.05 $\pm$ 0.05 M$_\odot$. We revisit pulsation timing binaries from Kepler with Gaia kinematics, finding four systems that are members of the Galactic thick disc or halo. This suggests that they have been rejuvenated by mass transfer, and their companions are now white dwarfs. Further follow-up of these systems may yield valuable constraints of the Galactic blue straggler population.