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arXiv 1903.04529astro-ph.SRastro-ph.EP
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发现一颗邻近恒星的致密伴星

Discovery of a Compact Companion to a Nearby Star

Stephen R. Kane, Paul A. Dalba, Jonathan Horner, Zhexing Li, Robert A. Wittenmyer, Elliott P. Horch, Steve B. Howell, Mark E. Everett

摘要:

径向速度(RV)搜索系外行星已经调查了许多最近和最亮的恒星,以寻找指示伴星的长期速度变化。这类巡天观测通常会侦测到行星质量体系之外的物体的高振幅速度特征,最常见的是低质量恒星。这种伴星经常被当作对巡天主要科学目标的错误警报而被丢弃,但高分辨率成像技术可以用来直接探测伴星或对伴星的性质进行重大限制。在这里,我们发现了附近恒星HD~118475的紧凑伴星。我们的英澳望远镜(AAT)RV数据允许提取的完整开普勒轨道的同伴,发现有一个最小的质量为0.445~ $M_\odot$。在预测的最大角距时刻进行的后续斑点成像观测排除了主序星作为RV信号源的可能性,其显著性水平为3.3 $σ$,这意味着伴星必须是一个低光度的致密天体,最有可能是一颗白矮星。我们提供了一个等时线分析结合我们的数据,约束可能的倾角的二元轨道。我们讨论了偏心轨道的伴侣在潮汐循环时标的背景下,并表明,非圆形轨道可能是继承了祖先。最后,我们强调需要利用这样的观测方法,以进一步了解附近恒星周围的白矮星同伴的人口统计。

英文摘要:

Radial velocity (RV) searches for exoplanets have surveyed many of the nearest and brightest stars for long-term velocity variations indicative of a companion body. Such surveys often detect high-amplitude velocity signatures of objects that lie outside the planetary mass regime, most commonly those of a low-mass star. Such stellar companions are frequently discarded as false-alarms to the main science goals of the survey, but high-resolution imaging techniques can be employed to either directly detect or place significant constraints on the nature of the companion object. Here, we present the discovery of a compact companion to the nearby star HD~118475. Our Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) RV data allow the extraction of the full Keplerian orbit of the companion, found to have a minimum mass of 0.445~$M_\odot$. Follow-up speckle imaging observations at the predicted time of maximum angular separation rule out a main sequence star as the source of the RV signature at the 3.3$σ$ significance level, implying that the companion must be a low-luminosity compact object, most likely a white dwarf. We provide an isochrone analysis combined with our data that constrain the possible inclinations of the binary orbit. We discuss the eccentric orbit of the companion in the context of tidal circularization timescales and show that non-circular orbit was likely inherited from the progenitor. Finally, we emphasize the need for utilizing such an observation method to further understand the demographics of white dwarf companions around nearby stars.

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