The first direct detection of gravitational waves was made in 2015 September with the Advanced LIGO detectors. By prior arrangement, a worldwide collaboration of electromagnetic follow-up observers ...were notified of candidate gravitational wave events during the first science run, and many facilities were engaged in the search for counterparts. Three alerts were issued to the electromagnetic collaboration over the course of the first science run, which lasted from 2015 September to 2016 January. Two of these alerts were associated with the gravitational wave events since named GW150914 and GW151226. In this paper we provide an overview of the Liverpool Telescope contribution to the follow-up campaign over this period. Given the hundreds of square degree uncertainty in the sky position of any gravitational wave event, efficient searching for candidate counterparts required survey telescopes with large (∼degrees) fields of view. The role of the Liverpool Telescope was to provide follow-up classification spectroscopy of any candidates. We followed candidates associated with all three alerts, observing 1, 9 and 17 candidates respectively. We classify the majority of the transients we observed as supernovae. No counterparts were identified, which is in line with expectations given that the events were classified as black hole–black hole mergers. However these searches laid the foundation for similar follow-up campaigns in future gravitational wave detector science runs, in which the detection of neutron star merger events with observable electromagnetic counterparts is much more likely.
We present the latest results from a spectroscopic survey designed to uncover the hidden population of AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) binaries in the photometric data base of the Sloan Digital Sky ...Survey (SDSS). We selected ∼2000 candidates based on their photometric colours, a relatively small sample which is expected to contain the majority of all AM CVn binaries in the SDSS (expected to be ∼50).
We present two new candidate AM CVn binaries discovered using this strategy: SDSS J104325.08+563258.1 and SDSS J173047.59+554518.5. We also present spectra of 29 new cataclysmic variables, 23 DQ white dwarfs and 21 DZ white dwarfs discovered in this survey.
The survey is now approximately 70 per cent complete, and the discovery of seven new AM CVn binaries indicates a lower space density than previously predicted. From the essentially complete g ≤ 19 sample, we derive an observed space density of (5 ± 3) × 10−7 pc−3; this is lower than previous estimates by a factor of 3.
The sample has been cross-matched with the GALEX All-Sky Imaging Survey data base, and with Data Release 9 of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The addition of UV photometry allows new colour cuts to be applied, reducing the size of our sample to ∼1100 objects. Optimizing our follow-up should allow us to uncover the remaining AM CVn binaries present in the SDSS, providing the larger homogeneous sample required to more reliably estimate their space density.
Planets orbiting post-common envelope binaries provide fundamental information on planet formation and evolution. We searched for such planets in NN Ser ab, an eclipsing short-period binary that ...shows long-term eclipse time variations. Using published, reanalysed, and new mid-eclipse times of NN Ser ab obtained between 1988 and 2010, we find excellent agreement with the light-travel-time effect produced by two additional bodies superposed on the linear ephemeris of the binary. Our multi-parameter fits accompanied by N-body simulations yield a best fit for the objects NN Ser (ab)c and d locked in the 2:1 mean motion resonance, with orbital periods Pc $\simeq$ 15.5 yrs and Pd $\simeq$ 7.7 yrs, masses Mc sin ic $\simeq$ 6.9 MJup and Md sin id $\simeq$ 2.2 MJup and eccentricities ec $\simeq$ 0 and ed $\simeq$ 0.20. A secondary χ2 minimum corresponds to an alternative solution with a period ratio of 5:2. We estimate that the progenitor binary consisted of an A star with ~2 $M_\odot$ and the present M dwarf secondary at an orbital separation of ~1.5 AU. The survival of two planets through the common-envelope phase that created the present white dwarf requires fine tuning between the gravitational force and the drag force experienced by them in the expanding envelope. The alternative is a second-generation origin in a circumbinary disk created at the end of this phase. In that case, the planets would be extremely young with ages not exceeding the cooling age of the white dwarf of 106 yrs.
We present ULTRACAM photometry and X-Shooter spectroscopy of the eclipsing double white dwarf binary CSS 41177, the only such system that is also a double-lined spectroscopic binary. Combined ...modelling of the light curves and radial velocities yield masses and radii for both white dwarfs without the need to assume mass-radius relations. We find that the primary white dwarf has a mass of M
1 = 0.38 ± 0.02 M and a radius of R
1 = 0.0222 ± 0.0004 R. The secondary white dwarf's mass and radius are M
2 = 0.32 ± 0.01 M and R
2 = 0.0207 ± 0.0004 R, and its temperature and surface gravity (T
2 = 11678 ± 313 K, log(g
2) = 7.32 ± 0.02) put it close to the white dwarf instability strip. However, we find no evidence for pulsations to roughly 0.5 per cent relative amplitude. Both masses and radii are consistent with helium white dwarf models with thin hydrogen envelopes of ≤10−4
M
*. The two stars will merge in 1.14 ± 0.07 Gyr due to angular momentum loss via gravitational wave emission.
Abstract
Studies of cool white dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood have placed a limit on the age of the Galactic disc of 8-9 billion years. However, determining their cooling ages requires the ...knowledge of their effective temperatures, masses, radii and atmospheric composition. So far, these parameters could only be inferred for a small number of ultracool white dwarfs for which an accurate distance is known, by fitting their spectral energy distributions in conjunction with a theoretical mass-radius relation. However, the mass-radius relation remains largely untested, and the derived cooling ages are hence model dependent. Here we report direct measurements of the mass and radius of an ultracool white dwarf in the double-lined eclipsing binary SDSS J013851.54−001621.6. We find M
WD = 0.529 ± 0.010 M⊙ and R
WD = 0.0131 ± 0.0003 R⊙. Our measurements are consistent with the mass-radius relation and we determine a robust cooling age of 9.5 billion years for the 3570 K white dwarf. We find that the mass and radius of the low-mass companion star, M
sec = 0.132 ± 0.003 M⊙ and R
sec = 0.165 ± 0.001 R⊙, are in agreement with evolutionary models. We also find evidence that this >9.5 Gyr old M5 star is still active, far beyond the activity lifetime for a star of its spectral type. This is likely caused by the high tidally enforced rotation rate of the star. The companion star is close to filling its Roche lobe and the system will evolve into a cataclysmic variable in only 70 Myr. Our direct measurements demonstrate that this system can be used to calibrate ultracool white dwarf atmospheric models.
We present high-speed photometric observations of the eclipsing dwarf nova IP Pegasi (IP Peg) taken with the triple-beam camera ULTRACAM mounted on the William Herschel Telescope. The primary eclipse ...in this system was observed twice in 2004, and then a further 16 times over a 3 week period in 2005. Our observations were simultaneous in the Sloan u′, g′ and r′ bands. By phase-folding and averaging our data, we make the first significant detection of the white dwarf ingress in this system and find the phase width φ of the white dwarf eclipse to be 0.0935 ± 0.0003, significantly higher than the previous best value of 0.0863 < φ < 0.0918. The mass ratio is found to be q=M2/M1= 0.48 ± 0.01, consistent with previous measurements, but we find the inclination to be , significantly higher than previously reported. We find the radius of the white dwarf to be 0.0063 ± 0.0003 R⊙, implying a white dwarf mass of 1.16 ± 0.02 M⊙. The donor mass is 0.55 ± 0.02 M⊙. The white dwarf temperature is more difficult to determine, since the white dwarf is seen to vary significantly in flux, even between consecutive eclipses. This is seen particularly in the u′ band, and is probably the result of absorption by disc material. Our best estimate of the temperature is 10 000–15 000 K, which is much lower than would be expected for a cataclysmic variable star with this period, and implies a mean accretion rate of <5 × 10−11 M⊙ yr−1, more than 40 times lower than the expected rate.
Radial-velocity measurements of subdwarf B stars Copperwheat, C. M.; Morales-Rueda, L.; Marsh, T. R. ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
August 2011, Letnik:
415, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Subdwarf B (sdB) stars are hot, subluminous stars which are thought to be core-helium burning with thin hydrogen envelopes. The mechanism by which these stars lose their envelopes has been ...controversial, but it has been argued that binary star interaction is the main cause. Over the past decade we have conducted a radial-velocity study of a large sample of sdB stars, and have shown that a significant fraction of the field sdB population exists in binary systems. In 2002 and 2003, we published 23 new binary sdB stars and the definitions of their orbits. Here, we present the continuation of this project. We give the binary parameters for 28 systems, 18 of which are new. We also present our radial-velocity measurements of a further 108 sdBs. Of these, 88 show no significant evidence of orbital motion. The remaining 20 do show radial-velocity variations, and so are good candidates for further study. Based on these results, our best estimate for the binary fraction in the sdB population is 46-56 per cent. This is a lower bound since the radial-velocity variations of very long period systems would be difficult to detect over the baseline of our programme, and for some sources we have only a small number of measurements.
ULTRASPEC is a high-speed imaging photometer mounted permanently at one of the Nasmyth focii of the 2.4-m Thai National Telescope (TNT) on Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain. ULTRASPEC employs ...a 1024 × 1024 pixel frame-transfer, electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) in conjunction with re-imaging optics to image a field of 7.7 × 7.7 arcmin2 at (windowed) frame rates of up to ∼200 Hz. The EMCCD has two outputs – a normal output that provides a readout noise of 2.3 e− and an avalanche output that can provide essentially zero readout noise. A six-position filter wheel enables narrow-band and broad-band imaging over the wavelength range 330–1000 nm. The instrument saw first light on the TNT in 2013 November and will be used to study rapid variability in the Universe. In this paper we describe the scientific motivation behind ULTRASPEC, present an outline of its design and report on its measured performance on the TNT.
We present high-speed photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy of the eclipsing post-common-envelope binary QS Virginis (QS Vir). Our Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) spectra ...span multiple orbits over more than a year and reveal the presence of several large prominences passing in front of both the M star and its white dwarf companion, allowing us to triangulate their positions. Despite showing small variations on a time-scale of days, they persist for more than a year and may last decades. One large prominence extends almost three stellar radii from the M star. Roche tomography reveals that the M star is heavily spotted and that these spots are long-lived and in relatively fixed locations, preferentially found on the hemisphere facing the white dwarf. We also determine precise binary and physical parameters for the system. We find that the 14 220 ± 350 K white dwarf is relatively massive, 0.782 ± 0.013 M⊙, and has a radius of 0.010 68 ± 0.000 07 R⊙, consistent with evolutionary models. The tidally distorted M star has a mass of 0.382 ± 0.006 M⊙ and a radius of 0.381 ± 0.003 R⊙, also consistent with evolutionary models. We find that the magnesium absorption line from the white dwarf is broader than expected. This could be due to rotation (implying a spin period of only ∼700 s), or due to a weak (∼100 kG) magnetic field, we favour the latter interpretation. Since the M star's radius is still within its Roche lobe and there is no evidence that it is overinflated, we conclude that QS Vir is most likely a pre-cataclysmic binary just about to become semidetached.
The merger of two neutron stars is predicted to give rise to three major detectable phenomena: a short burst of γ-rays, a gravitational-wave signal, and a transient optical-near-infrared source ...powered by the synthesis of large amounts of very heavy elements via rapid neutron capture (the r-process). Such transients, named 'macronovae' or 'kilonovae', are believed to be centres of production of rare elements such as gold and platinum. The most compelling evidence so far for a kilonova was a very faint near-infrared rebrightening in the afterglow of a short γ-ray burst at redshift z = 0.356, although findings indicating bluer events have been reported. Here we report the spectral identification and describe the physical properties of a bright kilonova associated with the gravitational-wave source GW170817 and γ-ray burst GRB 170817A associated with a galaxy at a distance of 40 megaparsecs from Earth. Using a series of spectra from ground-based observatories covering the wavelength range from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared, we find that the kilonova is characterized by rapidly expanding ejecta with spectral features similar to those predicted by current models. The ejecta is optically thick early on, with a velocity of about 0.2 times light speed, and reaches a radius of about 50 astronomical units in only 1.5 days. As the ejecta expands, broad absorption-like lines appear on the spectral continuum, indicating atomic species produced by nucleosynthesis that occurs in the post-merger fast-moving dynamical ejecta and in two slower (0.05 times light speed) wind regions. Comparison with spectral models suggests that the merger ejected 0.03 to 0.05 solar masses of material, including high-opacity lanthanides.
PDF
