1 research outputs found
APOGEE/Kepler Overlap Yields Orbital Solutions for a Variety of Eclipsing Binaries
Spectroscopic Eclipsing Binaries (SEBs) are fundamental benchmarks in stellar
astrophysics and today are observed in breathtaking detail by missions like
TESS, Kepler, and APOGEE. We develop a methodology for simultaneous analysis of
high precision Kepler light curves and high resolution near-IR spectra from
APOGEE and present orbital solutions and evolutionary histories for a subset of
SEBs within this overlap. Radial velocities extracted from APOGEE spectra using
the Broadening Function technique are combined with Kepler light curves and to
yield binary orbital solutions. The Broadening Function approach yields more
precise radial velocities than the standard Cross-Correlation Function, which
in turn yields more precise orbital parameters and enables the identification
of tertiary stars. The orbital periods of these seven SEBs range from 4 to 40
days. Four of the systems (KIC 5285607, KIC 6864859, KIC 6778289, and KIC
4285087) are well-detached binaries. The remaining three systems have apparent
tertiary companions, but each exhibits two eclipses along with at least one
spectroscopically varying component (KIC 6449358, KIC 6131659, and KIC
6781535). Gaia distances are available for four targets which we use to
estimate temperatures of both members of these SEBs. We explore evolutionary
histories in H-R diagram space and estimate ages for this subset of our sample.
Finally, we consider the implications for the formation pathways of close
binary systems via interactions with tertiary companions. Our methodology
combined with the era of big data and observation overlap opens up the
possibility of discovering and analyzing large numbers of diverse SEBs,
including those with high flux ratios and those in triple systems.Comment: 25 pages, 23 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in A