61 research outputs found
An eclipsing post common-envelope system consisting of a pulsating hot subdwarf B star and a brown dwarf companion
Hot subdwarf B stars (sdBs) are evolved, core helium-burning objects located
on the extreme horizontal branch. Their formation history is still puzzling as
the sdB progenitors must lose nearly all of their hydrogen envelope during the
red-giant phase. About half of the known sdBs are in close binaries with
periods from 1.2 h to a few days, a fact that implies they experienced a
common-envelope phase. Eclipsing hot subdwarf binaries (also called HW Virginis
systems) are rare but important objects for determining fundamental stellar
parameters. Even more significant and uncommon are those binaries containing a
pulsating sdB, as the mass can be determined independently by asteroseismology.
Here we present a first analysis of the eclipsing hot subdwarf binary
V2008-1753. The light curve shows a total eclipse, a prominent reflection
effect, and low--amplitude pulsations with periods from 150 to 180 s. An
analysis of the light-- and radial velocity (RV) curves indicates a mass ratio
close to , an RV semi-amplitude of , and an
inclination of . Combining these results with our spectroscopic
determination of the surface gravity, , the best--fitting
model yields an sdB mass of 0.47 and a companion mass of . As the latter mass is below the hydrogen-burning limit,
V2008-1753 represents the first HW Vir system known consisting of a pulsating
sdB and a brown dwarf companion. Consequently, it holds great potential for
better constraining models of sdB binary evolution and asteroseismology.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for A&
A new HW Vir binary from the Palomar Transient Factory: PTF1 J072455.75+125300.3 - An eclipsing subdwarf B binary with a M-star companion
We report the discovery of an eclipsing binary -- PTF1 J072456125301--
composed of a subdwarf B (sdB) star () with a faint companion.
Subdwarf B stars are core helium-burning stars, which can be found on the
extreme horizontal branch. About half of them reside in close binary systems,
but few are known to be eclipsing, for which fundamental stellar parameters can
be derived.\newline We conducted an analysis of photometric data and spectra
from the Palomar 60'' and the 200" Hale telescope respectively. A quantitative
spectral analysis found an effective temperature of
\,K, log g = and
log(, typical for an sdB star. The
companion does not contribute to the optical light of the system, except
through a distinct reflection effect. From the light curve an orbital period of
0.09980(25)\,d and a system inclination of 83.56\pm0.30\,^{\circ} were
derived. The radial velocity curve yielded an orbital semi-amplitude of
K_1=95.8\pm 8.1\,\text{km s^{-1}}. The mass for the M-type dwarf companion
is . PTF1\,J072456125301 has similar atmospheric
parameters to those of pulsating sdB stars (V346 Hya stars). Therefore it could
be a high-priority object for asteroseismology, if pulsations were detected
such as in the enigmatic case of NY Vir.Comment: Accepted to A&A, 7pages, 4 figure
Two candidate brown dwarf companions around core helium-burning stars
Hot subdwarf stars of spectral type B (sdBs) are evolved, core helium-burning
objects. The formation of those objects is puzzling, because the progenitor
star has to lose almost its entire hydrogen envelope in the red-giant phase.
Binary interactions have been invoked, but single sdBs exist as well. We report
the discovery of two close hot subdwarf binaries with small radial velocity
amplitudes. Follow-up photometry revealed reflection effects originating from
cool irradiated companions, but no eclipses. The lower mass limits for the
companions of CPD-64481 () and PHL\,457
() are significantly below the stellar mass limit. Hence
they could be brown dwarfs unless the inclination is unfavourable. Two very
similar systems have already been reported. The probability that none of them
is a brown dwarf is very small, 0.02%. Hence we provide further evidence that
substellar companions with masses that low are able to eject a common envelope
and form an sdB star. Furthermore, we find that the properties of the observed
sample of hot subdwarfs in reflection effect binaries is consistent with a
scenario where single sdBs can still be formed via common envelope events, but
their low-mass substellar companions do not survive.Comment: accepted to A&
The MUCHFUSS photometric campaign
Hot subdwarfs (sdO/Bs) are the helium-burning cores of red giants, which lost
almost all of their hydrogen envelopes. This mass loss is often triggered by
common envelope interactions with close stellar or even substellar companions.
Cool companions like late-type stars or brown dwarfs are detectable via
characteristic light curve variations like reflection effects and often also
eclipses. To search for such objects we obtained multi-band light curves of 26
close sdO/B binary candidates from the MUCHFUSS project with the BUSCA
instrument. We discovered a new eclipsing reflection effect system
(~d) with a low-mass M dwarf companion ().
Three more reflection effect binaries found in the course of the campaign were
already published, two of them are eclipsing systems, in one system only
showing the reflection effect but no eclipses the sdB primary is found to be
pulsating. Amongst the targets without reflection effect a new long-period sdB
pulsator was discovered and irregular light variations were found in two sdO
stars. The found light variations allowed us to constrain the fraction of
reflection effect binaries and the substellar companion fraction around sdB
stars. The minimum fraction of reflection effect systems amongst the close sdB
binaries might be greater than 15\% and the fraction of close substellar
companions in sdB binaries might be as high as . This would result in a
close substellar companion fraction to sdB stars of about 3\%. This fraction is
much higher than the fraction of brown dwarfs around possible progenitor
systems, which are solar-type stars with substellar companions around 1 AU, as
well as close binary white dwarfs with brown dwarf companions. This might be a
hint that common envelope interactions with substellar objects are
preferentially followed by a hot subdwarf phase.Comment: accepted for A&
The population of white dwarf binaries with hot subdwarf companions
Hot subdwarfs (sdBs) are core helium-burning stars, which lost almost their
entire hydrogen envelope in the red-giant phase. Since a high fraction of those
stars are in close binary systems, common envelope ejection is an important
formation channel. We identified a total population of 51 close sdB+WD binaries
based on time-resolved spectroscopy and multi-band photometry, derive the WD
mass distribution and constrain the future evolution of these systems. Most WDs
in those binaries have masses significantly below the average mass of single
WDs and a high fraction of them might therefore have helium cores. We found 12
systems that will merge in less than a Hubble time and evolve to become either
massive C/O WDs, AM\,CVn systems, RCrB stars or even explode as supernovae type
Ia.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 19th European
White Dwarf Workshop, ASP Conf. Se
Quantitative spectral analysis of the sdB star HD 188112: a helium-core white dwarf progenitor
HD 188112 is a bright (V = 10.2 mag) hot subdwarf B (sdB) star with a mass
too low to ignite core helium burning and is therefore considered as a
pre-extremely low mass (ELM) white dwarf (WD). ELM WDs (M 0.3 Msun) are
He-core objects produced by the evolution of compact binary systems. We present
in this paper a detailed abundance analysis of HD 188112 based on
high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) near and far-ultraviolet
spectroscopy. We also constrain the mass of the star's companion. We use hybrid
non-LTE model atmospheres to fit the observed spectral lines and derive the
abundances of more than a dozen elements as well as the rotational broadening
of metallic lines. We confirm the previous binary system parameters by
combining radial velocities measured in our UV spectra with the already
published ones. The system has a period of 0.60658584 days and a WD companion
with M 0.70 Msun. By assuming a tidally locked rotation, combined with
the projected rotational velocity (v sin i = 7.9 0.3 km s) we
constrain the companion mass to be between 0.9 and 1.3 Msun. We further discuss
the future evolution of the system as a potential progenitor of a
(underluminous) type Ia supernova. We measure abundances for Mg, Al, Si, P, S,
Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, and Zn, as well as for the trans-iron elements Ga, Sn,
and Pb. In addition, we derive upper limits for the C, N, O elements and find
HD 188112 to be strongly depleted in carbon. We find evidence of non-LTE
effects on the line strength of some ionic species such as Si II and Ni II. The
metallic abundances indicate that the star is metal-poor, with an abundance
pattern most likely produced by diffusion effects.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Spectral Analysis of Binary Pre-white Dwarf Systems
Short period double degenerate white dwarf (WD) binaries with periodsof less than ∼1 day are considered to be one of the likely progenitors of type Ia super-novae. These binaries have undergone a period of common envelope evolution. If thecore ignites helium before the envelope is ejected, then a hot subdwarf remains priorto contracting into a WD. Here we present a comparison of two very rare systems thatcontain two hot subdwarfs in short period orbits. We provide a quantitative spectro-scopic analysis of the systems using synthetic spectra from state-of-the-art non-LTEmodels to constrain the atmospheric parameters of the stars. We also use these modelsto determine the radial velocities, and thus calculate dynamical masses for the stars ineach system.Fil: Finch, N. L.. University of Leicester; Reino UnidoFil: Braker, I. P.. University of Leicester; Reino UnidoFil: Reindl, N.. University of Leicester; Reino UnidoFil: Barstow, M. A.. University of Leicester; Reino UnidoFil: Casewell, S. L.. University of Leicester; Reino UnidoFil: Burleigh, M.. University of Leicester; Reino UnidoFil: Kupfer, T.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Kilkenny, D.. University of the Western Cape; SudáfricaFil: Geier, S.. Universitat Potsdam; AlemaniaFil: Schaffenroth, V.. Universitat Potsdam; AlemaniaFil: Schaffenroth, V.. Universitat Potsdam; AlemaniaFil: Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Taubenberger, S.. Gobierno de la República Federal de Alemania. Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik; AlemaniaFil: Freudenthal, J.. No especifíca;Radiative Signatures from the Cosmos: A Conference in Honor of Ivan HubenyParisFranciaUniversidad de Pari
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