We present a kinematically-unbiased search to identify young, nearby low-mass members of kinematic moving groups (MGs). Objects with both rotation periods shorter than 5 d in the SuperWASP All-Sky ...Survey and X-ray counterparts in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey were chosen to create a catalogue of several thousand rapidly rotating, X-ray active FGK stars. These objects are expected to be either young single stars or tidally locked spectroscopic binaries. We obtained optical spectra for a sub-sample of 146 stars to determine their ages and kinematics, and in some cases repeat radial velocity measurements were used to identify binarity. 26 stars are found to have lithium abundances consistent with an age of ≤200 Myr, and show no evidence for binarity and in most cases measurements of H α and v sin i support their youthful status. Based on their youth, their radial velocities and estimates of their three-dimensional kinematics, we find 11 objects that may be members of known MGs, eight that do not appear associated with any young MG and a further seven that are close to the kinematics of the recently proposed ‘Octans-Near’ MG, and which may be the first members of this MG found in the Northern hemisphere. The initial search mechanism was ∼18 per cent efficient at identifying likely-single stars younger than 200 Myr, of which 80 per cent were early-K spectral types.
Context. The mean density of a star transited by a planet, brown dwarf or low mass star can be accurately measured from its light curve. This measurement can be combined with other observations to ...estimate its mass and age by comparison with stellar models. Aims. Our aim is to calculate the posterior probability distributions for the mass and age of a star given its density, effective temperature, metallicity and luminosity. Methods. We computed a large grid of stellar models that densely sample the appropriate mass and metallicity range. The posterior probability distributions are calculated using a Markov-chain Monte-Carlo method. The method has been validated by comparison to the results of other stellar models and by applying the method to stars in eclipsing binary systems with accurately measured masses and radii. We have explored the sensitivity of our results to the assumed values of the mixing-length parameter, αMLT, and initial helium mass fraction, Y. Results. For a star with a mass of 0.9 M⊙ and an age of 4 Gyr our method recovers the mass of the star with a precision of 2% and the age to within 25% based on the density, effective temperature and metallicity predicted by a range of different stellar models. The masses of stars in eclipsing binaries are recovered to within the calculated uncertainties (typically 5%) in about 90% of cases. There is a tendency for the masses to be underestimated by about 0.1 M⊙ for some stars with rotation periods Prot< 7 d. Conclusions. Our method makes it straightforward to determine accurately the joint posterior probability distribution for the mass and age of a star eclipsed by a planet or other dark body based on its observed properties and a state-of-the art set of stellar models.
We present high-speed ULTRACAM photometry of the eclipsing post-common-envelope binaries DE CVn, GK Vir, NN Ser, QS Vir, RR Cae, RX J2130.6+4710, SDSS 0110+1326 and SDSS 0303+0054 and use these data ...to measure precise mid-eclipse times in order to detect any period variations. We detect a large (∼250 s) departure from linearity in the eclipse times of QS Vir which Applegate's mechanism fails to reproduce by an order of magnitude. The only mechanism able to drive this period change is a third body in a highly elliptical orbit. However, the planetary/sub-stellar companion previously suggested to exist in this system is ruled out by our data. Our eclipse times show that the period decrease detected in NN Ser is continuing, with magnetic braking or a third body the only mechanisms able to explain this change. The planetary/sub-stellar companion previously suggested to exist in NN Ser is also ruled out by our data. Our precise eclipse times also lead to improved ephemerides for DE CVn and GK Vir. The width of a primary eclipse is directly related to the size of the secondary star and variations in the size of this star could be an indication of Applegate's mechanism or Wilson (starspot) depressions which can cause jitter in the O−C curves. We measure the width of primary eclipses for the systems NN Ser and GK Vir over several years but find no definitive variations in the radii of the secondary stars. However, our data are precise enough (ΔRsec/Rsec < 10−5) to show the effects of Applegate's mechanism in the future. We find no evidence of Wilson depressions in either system. We also find tentative indications that flaring rates of the secondary stars depend on their mass rather than rotation rates.
ABSTRACT
Stars with accurate and precise effective temperature (Teff) measurements are needed to test stellar atmosphere models and calibrate empirical methods to determine Teff. There are few ...standard stars currently available to calibrate temperature indicators for dwarf stars. Gaia parallaxes now make it possible, in principle, to measure Teff for many dwarf stars in eclipsing binaries. We aim to develop a method that uses high-precision measurements of detached eclipsing binary stars, Gaia parallaxes, and multiwavelength photometry to obtain accurate and precise fundamental effective temperatures that can be used to establish a set of benchmark stars. We select the well-studied binary AI Phoenicis to test our method, since it has very precise absolute parameters and extensive archival photometry. The method uses the stellar radii and parallax for stars in eclipsing binaries. We use a Bayesian approach to obtain the integrated bolometric fluxes for the two stars from observed magnitudes, colours, and flux ratios. The fundamental effective temperature of two stars in AI Phoenicis are 6199 ± 22 K for the F7 V component and 5094 ± 16 K for the K0 IV component. The zero-point error in the flux scale leads to a systematic error of only 0.2 per cent (≈ 11 K) in Teff. We find that these results are robust against the details of the analysis, such as the choice of model spectra. Our method can be applied to eclipsing binary stars with radius, parallax, and photometric measurements across a range of wavelengths. Stars with fundamental effective temperatures determined with this method can be used as benchmarks in future surveys.
Many sub-stellar companions (usually planets but also some brown dwarfs) orbit solar-type stars. These stars can engulf their sub-stellar companions when they become red giants. This interaction may ...explain several outstanding problems in astrophysics but it is unclear under what conditions a low mass companion will evaporate, survive the interaction unchanged or gain mass. Observational tests of models for this interaction have been hampered by a lack of positively identified remnants—that is, white dwarf stars with close, sub-stellar companions. The companion to the pre-white dwarf AA Doradus may be a brown dwarf, but the uncertain history of this star and the extreme luminosity difference between the components make it difficult to interpret the observations or to put strong constraints on the models. The magnetic white dwarf SDSS J121209.31 + 013627.7 may have a close brown dwarf companion but little is known about this binary at present. Here we report the discovery of a brown dwarf in a short period orbit around a white dwarf. The properties of both stars in this binary can be directly observed and show that the brown dwarf was engulfed by a red giant but that this had little effect on it.
Context. Inaccurate limb-darkening models can be a significant source of error in the analysis of the light curves for transiting exoplanet and eclipsing binary star systems, particularly for ...high-precision light curves at optical wavelengths. The power-2 limb-darkening law, Iλ(µ) = 1 − c(1−µα) $I_{\lambda}(\mu) = 1 - c\left(1-\mu^{\alpha}\right)$Iλ(μ)=1−c(1−μα), has recently been proposed as a good compromise between complexity and precision in the treatment of limb-darkening. Aims. My aim is to develop a practical implementation of the power-2 limb-darkening law and to quantify the accuracy of this implementation. Methods. I have used synthetic spectra based on the 3D stellar atmosphere models from the STAGGER-grid to compute the limb-darkening for several passbands (UBVRI, CHEOPS, TESS, Kepler, etc.). The parameters of the power-2 limb-darkening laws are optimized using a least-squares fit to a simulated light curve computed directly from the tabulated Iλ(μ) values. I use the transformed parameters h1 = 1 − c(1 − 2−α) $h_1 = 1-c\left(1-2^{-\alpha}\right)$h1=1−c(1−2−α) and h2 = c2−α to directly compare these optimized limb-darkening parameters to the limb darkening measured from Kepler light curves of 16 transiting exoplanet systems. Results. The posterior probability distributions (PPDs) of the transformed parameters h1 and h2 resulting from the light curve analysis are found to be much less strongly correlated than the PPDs for c and α. The agreement between the computed and observed values of (h1, h2) is generally very good but there are significant differences between the observed and computed values for Kepler-17, the only star in the sample that shows significant variability between the eclipses due to magnetic activity (star spots). Conclusions. The tabulation of h1 and h2 provided here can be used to accurately model the light curves of transiting exoplanets. I also provide estimates of the priors that should be applied to transformed parameters h1 and h2 based on my analysis of the Kepler light curves of 16 stars with transiting exoplanets.
Context. The Kepler K2 mission now makes it possible to find and study a wider variety of eclipsing binary stars than has been possible to-date, particularly long-period systems with narrow eclipses. ...Aims. Our aim is to characterise eclipsing binary stars observed by the Kepler K2 mission with orbital periods longer than P ≈ 5.5 days. Methods. The ellc binary star model has been used to determine the geometry of eclipsing binary systems in Kepler K2 campaigns 1, 2 and 3. The nature of the stars in each binary is estimated by comparison to stellar evolution tracks in the effective temperature – mean stellar density plane. Results. 43 eclipsing binary systems have been identified and 40 of these are characterised in some detail. The majority of these systems are found to be late-type dwarf and sub-giant stars with masses in the range 0.6–1.4 solar masses. We identify two eclipsing binaries containing red giant stars, including one bright system with total eclipses that is ideal for detailed follow-up observations. The bright B3V-type star HD 142883 is found to be an eclipsing binary in a triple star system. We observe a series of frequencies at large multiples of the orbital frequency in BW Aqr that we tentatively identify as tidally induced pulsations in this well-studied eccentric binary system. We find that the faint eclipsing binary EPIC 201160323 shows rapid apsidal motion. Rotational modulation signals are observed in 13 eclipsing systems, the majority of which are found to rotate non-synchronously with their orbits. Conclusions. The K2 mission is a rich source of data that can be used to find long period eclipsing binary stars. These data combined with follow-up observations can be used to precisely measure the masses and radii of stars for which such fundamental data are currently lacking, e.g., sub-giant stars and slowly-rotating low-mass stars.
The star 1SWASP J162842.31+101416.7 (WASP 1628+10) is one of several EL CVn-type stars recently identified using the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) data base, i.e. an eclipsing binary star in ...which an A-type dwarf star (WASP 1628+10 A) eclipses the remnant of a disrupted red giant star (WASP 1628+10 B). We have measured the masses, radii and luminosities of the stars in WASP 1628+10 using photometry obtained in three bands (u
′, g
′, r
′) with the ULTRACAM instrument and medium-resolution spectroscopy. The properties of the remnant are well matched by models for stars in a rarely observed state evolving to higher effective temperatures at nearly constant luminosity prior to becoming a very low mass white dwarf composed almost entirely of helium, i.e. we confirm that WASP 1628+10 B is a precursor of a helium white dwarf (pre-He-WD). WASP 1628+10 A appears to be a normal A2 V star with a mass of 1.36 ± 0.05 M⊙. By fitting models to the spectrum of this star around the Hγ line we find that it has an effective temperature T
eff, A = 7500 ± 200 K and a metallicity Fe/H = −0.3 ± 0.3. The mass of WASP 1628+10 B is only 0.135 ± 0.02 M⊙. The effective temperature of this pre-He-WD is approximately 9200 K. The ULTRACAM photometry of WASP 1628+10 shows variability at several frequencies around 40 cycles d−1, which is typical for δ Sct-type pulsations often observed in early A-type stars like WASP 1628+10 A. We also observe frequencies near 114 and 129 cycles d−1, much higher than the frequencies normally seen in δ Sct stars. Additional photometry through the primary eclipse will be required to confirm that these higher frequencies are due to pulsations in WASP 1628+10 B. If confirmed, this would be only the second known example of a pre-He-WD showing high-frequency pulsations.
The WASP Project and the SuperWASP Cameras Pollacco, D. L.; Skillen, I.; Cameron, A. Collier ...
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific,
10/2006, Letnik:
118, Številka:
848
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The SuperWASP cameras are wide‐field imaging systems at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, and at the Sutherland Station of the South African ...Astronomical Observatory. Each instrument has a field of view of some 482 deg2with an angular scale of 13
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7 pixel−1, and is capable of delivering photometry with accuracy better than 1% for objects having
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. Lower quality data for objects brighter than
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are stored in the project archive. The systems, while designed to monitor fields with high cadence, are capable of surveying the entire visible sky every 40 minutes. Depending on the observational strategy, the data rate can be up to 100 Gbytes per night. We have produced a robust, largely automatic reduction pipeline and advanced archive, which are used to serve the data products to the consortium members. The main science aim of these systems is to search for bright transiting exoplanet systems suitable for spectroscopic follow‐up observations. The first 6 month season of SuperWASP‐North observations produced light curves of ∼6.7 million objects with 12.9 billion data points.
ABSTRACT
Precise measurements of stellar parameters are required in order to develop our theoretical understanding of stellar structure. These measurements enable errors and uncertainties to be ...quantified in theoretical models and constrain the physical interpretation of observed phenomena, such as the inflated radii of low-mass stars.
We use newly-available TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey) light curves combined with published radial velocity measurements to improve the characterization of 12 low mass eclipsing binaries composed of an M dwarf accompanied by a brighter F/G star. We present and analyse ground-based simultaneous four-colour photometry for two targets. Our results include the first measurements of the fundamental properties of two of the systems. Light curve and radial velocity information were converted into the physical parameters of each component of the systems using an isochrone fitting method. We also derive the effective temperatures of the M dwarfs, almost tripling the number of such measurements.
The results are discussed in the context of radius inflation. We find that exquisite precision in the age estimation of young objects is required to determine their inflation status. However, all but three of the objects are securely located among the main sequence, demonstrating radius inflation and the necessity to develop our understanding of the complex physical processes governing the evolution of low-mass stars. We investigated the hypothesis that luminosity is unaffected by the inflation problem but the findings were not conclusive.
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