Aims. Our scientific goal is to provide revised membership lists of the α Per, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters exploiting the second data release of Gaia and produce five-dimensional maps (α, δ, π, ...μα cos δ, μδ) of these clusters. Methods. We implemented the kinematic method combined with the statistical treatment of parallaxes and proper motions to identify astrometric member candidates of three of the most nearby and best studied open clusters in the sky. Results. We cross-correlated the Gaia catalogue with large-scale public surveys to complement the astrometry of Gaia with multi-band photometry from the optical to the mid-infrared. We identified 517, 1248, and 721 bona fide astrometric member candidates inside the tidal radius of α Per, the Pleiades, and Praesepe, respectively. We cross-matched our final samples with catalogues from previous surveys to address the level of completeness. We update the main physical properties of the clusters, including mean distance and velocity, as well as core, half-mass, and tidal radii. We infer updated ages from the white dwarf members of the Pleiades and Praesepe. We derive the luminosity and mass functions of the three clusters and compare them to the field mass function. We compute the positions in space of all member candidates in the three regions to investigate their distribution in space. Conclusions. We provide updated distances and kinematics for the three clusters. We identify a list of members in the α Per, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters from the most massive stars all the way down to the hydrogen-burning limit with a higher confidence and better astrometry than previous studies. We produce complete 5D maps of stellar and substellar bona fide members in these three regions. The photometric sequences derived in several colour–magnitude diagrams represent benchmark cluster sequences at ages from 90 to 600 Myr. We note the presence of a stream around the Pleiades cluster extending up to 40 pc from the cluster centre.
Aims. Our scientific goal is to provide a 3D map of the nearest open cluster to the Sun, the Hyades, combining the recent release of Gaia astrometric data, ground-based parallaxes of sub-stellar ...member candidates and photometric data from surveys which cover large areas of the cluster. Methods. We combined the second Gaia release with ground-based H-band parallaxes obtained with the infrared camera on the 2 m robotic Liverpool telescope to astrometrically identify stellar and sub-stellar members of the Hyades, the nearest open cluster to the Sun. Results. We find 1764 objects within 70° radius from the cluster centre from the Gaia second data release, whose kinematic properties are consistent with the Hyades. We limit our study to 30 pc from the cluster centre (47.03 ± 0.20 pc) where we identify 710 candidate members, including 85 and 385 in the core and tidal radius, respectively. We determine proper motions and parallaxes of eight candidate brown dwarf members and confirm their membership. Using the 3D positions and a model-based mass-luminosity relation we derive a luminosity and mass function in the 0.04–2.5 M⊙ range. We confirm evidence for mass segregation in the Hyades and find a dearth of brown dwarfs in the core of the cluster. From the white dwarf members we estimate an age of 640 −49+67 − 49 + 67 $ ^{+67}_{-49} $ Myr. Conclusions. We identify a list of members in the Hyades cluster from the most massive stars down to the brown dwarfs. We produce for the first time a 3D map of the Hyades cluster in the stellar and sub-stellar regimes and make available the list of candidate members.
Planets that orbit their parent star at less than about one astronomical unit (1 AU is the Earth-Sun distance) are expected to be engulfed when the star becomes a red giant. Previous observations ...have revealed the existence of post-red-giant host stars with giant planets orbiting as close as 0.116 AU or with brown dwarf companions in tight orbits, showing that these bodies can survive engulfment. What has remained unclear is whether planets can be dragged deeper into the red-giant envelope without being disrupted and whether the evolution of the parent star itself could be affected. Here we report the presence of two nearly Earth-sized bodies orbiting the post-red-giant, hot B subdwarf star KIC 05807616 at distances of 0.0060 and 0.0076 AU, with orbital periods of 5.7625 and 8.2293 hours, respectively. These bodies probably survived deep immersion in the former red-giant envelope. They may be the dense cores of evaporated giant planets that were transported closer to the star during the engulfment and triggered the mass loss necessary for the formation of the hot B subdwarf, which might also explain how some stars of this type did not form in binary systems.
We analyze 37 months of Kepler photometry of 2M 1938+4603, a binary system with a pulsating hot subdwarf primary and an M-dwarf companion that shows strong reflection effect. We measured the eclipse ...timings from more than 16 000 primary and secondary eclipses and discovered a periodic variation in the timing signal that we ascribe to a third body in the system. We also discovered a significant long-term trend that may be an evolutionary effect or a hint of more bodies. Upon the assumption that the third body is orbiting in the same plane as the primary, we establish that it must be a Jupiter-mass object orbiting with a period of 416 days at a distance of 0.92 AU. This mass is the lowest among all tertiary components detected in similar systems.
ABSTRACT
We present a spectroscopic survey of 230 white dwarf candidates within 40 pc of the Sun from the William Herschel Telescope and Gran Telescopio Canarias. All candidates were selected from ...Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) and in almost all cases, had no prior spectroscopic classifications. We find a total of 191 confirmed white dwarfs and 39 main-sequence star contaminants. The majority of stellar remnants in the sample are relatively cool (〈Teff〉 = 6200 K), showing either hydrogen Balmer lines or a featureless spectrum, corresponding to 89 DA and 76 DC white dwarfs, respectively. We also recover two DBA white dwarfs and 9–10 magnetic remnants. We find two carbon-bearing DQ stars and 14 new metal-rich white dwarfs. This includes the possible detection of the first ultra-cool white dwarf with metal lines. We describe three DZ stars for which we find at least four different metal species, including one that is strongly Fe- and Ni-rich, indicative of the accretion of a planetesimal with core-Earth composition. We find one extremely massive (1.31 ± 0.01 M⊙) DA white dwarf showing weak Balmer lines, possibly indicating stellar magnetism. Another white dwarf shows strong Balmer line emission but no infrared excess, suggesting a low-mass sub-stellar companion. A high spectroscopic completeness (>99 per cent) has now been reached for Gaia DR2 sources within 40-pc sample, in the Northern hemisphere (δ > 0°) and located on the white dwarf cooling track in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. A statistical study of the full northern sample is presented in a companion paper.
Abstract
We present a spectroscopic survey of 248 white dwarf candidates within 40 pc of the Sun; of these 244 are in the Southern hemisphere. Observations were performed mostly with the Very Large ...Telescope (X-Shooter) and Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope. Almost all candidates were selected from Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3). We find a total of 246 confirmed white dwarfs, 209 of which had no previously published spectra, and two main-sequence star contaminants. Of these, 100 white dwarfs display hydrogen Balmer lines, 69 have featureless spectra, and two show only neutral helium lines. Additionally, 14 white dwarfs display traces of carbon, while 37 have traces of other elements that are heavier than helium. We observe 35 magnetic white dwarfs through the detection of Zeeman splitting of their hydrogen Balmer or metal spectral lines. High spectroscopic completeness (> 97 per cent) has now been reached, such that we have 1058 confirmed Gaia DR3 white dwarfs out of 1083 candidates within 40 pc of the Sun at all declinations.
ABSTRACT
We report on the detection of pulsations of three pulsating subdwarf B stars observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) satellite and our results of mode identification in ...these stars based on an asymptotic period relation. SB 459 (TIC 067584818), SB 815 (TIC 169285097), and PG 0342 + 026 (TIC 457168745) have been monitored during single sectors resulting in 27 d coverage. These data sets allowed for detecting, in each star, a few tens of frequencies that we interpreted as stellar oscillations. We found no multiplets, though we partially constrained mode geometry by means of period spacing, which recently became a key tool in analyses of pulsating subdwarf B stars. Standard routine that we have used allowed us to select candidates for trapped modes that surely bear signatures of non-uniform chemical profile inside the stars. We have also done statistical analysis using collected spectroscopic and asteroseismic data of previously known subdwarf B stars along with our three stars. Making use of high precision trigonometric parallaxes from the Gaia mission and spectral energy distributions we converted atmospheric parameters to stellar ones. Radii, masses, and luminosities are close to their canonical values for extreme horizontal branch stars. In particular, the stellar masses are close to the canonical one of 0.47 M⊙ for all three stars but uncertainties on the mass are large. The results of the analyses presented here will provide important constrains for asteroseismic modelling.
ABSTRACT
EPIC 216747137 is a new HW Virginis system discovered by the Kepler spacecraft during its K2 ‘second life’. Like the other HW Vir systems, EPIC 216747137 is a post-common-envelope eclipsing ...binary consisting of a hot subluminous star and a cool low-mass companion. The short orbital period of 3.87 h produces a strong reflection effect from the secondary (∼9 per cent in the R band). Together with AA Dor and V1828 Aql, EPIC 216747137 belongs to a small subgroup of HW Vir systems with a hot evolved sdOB primary. We find the following atmospheric parameters for the hot component: Teff = 40400 ± 1000 K, log g = 5.56 ± 0.06, and log(N(He)/N(H)) = −2.59 ± 0.05. The sdOB rotational velocity v sin i = 51 ± 10 km s−1 implies that the stellar rotation is slower than the orbital revolution and the system is not synchronized. When we combine photometric and spectroscopic results with the Gaia parallax, the best solution for the system corresponds to a primary with a mass of about 0.62 M⊙ close to, and likely beyond, the central helium exhaustion, while the cool M-dwarf companion has a mass of about 0.11 M⊙.
After the initial discoveries fifteen years ago, over 200 extrasolar planets have now been detected. Most of them orbit main-sequence stars similar to our Sun, although a few planets orbiting red ...giant stars have been recently found. When the hydrogen in their cores runs out, main-sequence stars undergo an expansion into red-giant stars. This expansion can modify the orbits of planets and can easily reach and engulf the inner planets. The same will happen to the planets of our Solar System in about five billion years and the fate of the Earth is matter of debate. Here we report the discovery of a planetary-mass body (Msini = 3.2MJupiter) orbiting the star V 391 Pegasi at a distance of about 1.7 astronomical units (au), with a period of 3.2 years. This star is on the extreme horizontal branch of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, burning helium in its core and pulsating. The maximum radius of the red-giant precursor of V 391 Pegasi may have reached 0.7 au, while the orbital distance of the planet during the stellar main-sequence phase is estimated to be about 1 au. This detection of a planet orbiting a post-red-giant star demonstrates that planets with orbital distances of less than 2 au can survive the red-giant expansion of their parent stars.
ABSTRACT
HD 4539 (alias PG 0044 + 097 or EPIC 220641886) is a bright (V = 10.2) long-period V1093 Her-type subdwarf B (sdB) pulsating star that was observed by the Kepler spacecraft in its secondary ...(K2) mission. We use the K2 light curve (78.7 d) to extract 169 pulsation frequencies, 124 with a robust detection. Most of these frequencies are found in the low-frequency region typical of gravity (g-)modes, but some higher frequencies corresponding to pressure (p-)modes are also detected. Therefore HD 4539 is a hybrid pulsator and both the deep and surface layers of the star can potentially be probed through asteroseismology. The lack of any frequency splitting in its amplitude spectrum suggests that HD 4539 has a rotation period longer than the K2 run and/or that it is seen pole-on. From asymptotic period spacing we see many high-degree modes, up to l = 12, in the spectrum of HD 4539, with amplitudes as low as a few ppm. A large fraction of these modes can be identified and for ∼29 per cent of them we obtain a unique and robust identification corresponding to l ≤ 8. Our study includes also a new determination of the atmospheric parameters of the star. From low-resolution spectroscopy we obtain Teff = 22 800 ± 160 K, log g = 5.20 ± 0.02, and log(N(He)/N(H)) = −2.34 ± 0.05. By fitting the SED we obtain Teff = 23 470$^{+650}_{-210}$ K, R⋆ = 0.26 ± 0.01 R⊙, and M⋆ = 0.40 ± 0.08 M⊙. Moreover, from 11 high-resolution spectra we see the radial velocity variations caused by the stellar pulsations, with amplitudes of ≈150 m s−1 for the main modes, and we can exclude the presence of a companion with a minimum mass higher than a few Jupiter masses for orbital periods below ∼300 d.
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