Bibcode
Pyrzas, S.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Marsh, T. R.; Aungwerojwit, A.; Rebassa-Mansergas, A.; Rodríguez-Gil, P.; Southworth, J.; Schreiber, M. R.; Nebot Gomez-Moran, A.; Koester, D.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 394, Issue 2, pp. 978-994.
Advertised on:
4
2009
Citations
70
Refereed citations
63
Description
We identify SDSS011009.09+132616.1, SDSS030308.35+005444.1,
SDSS143547.87+ 373338.5 and SDSS154846.00+405728.8 as four eclipsing
white dwarf plus main-sequence (WDMS) binaries from the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey (SDSS), and report on follow-up observations of these
systems. SDSS0110+1326, SDSS1435+3733 and SDSS1548+4057 contain DA white
dwarfs, while SDSS0303+0054 contains a cool DC white dwarf. Orbital
periods and ephemerides have been established from multiseason
photometry. SDSS1435+3733, with Porb = 3h has the shortest
orbital period of all known eclipsing WDMS binaries. As for the other
systems, SDSS0110+1326 has Porb = 8h, SDSS0303+0054 has
Porb = 3.2h and SDSS1548+4057 has Porb = 4.4h.
Time-resolved spectroscopic observations have been obtained and the
Hα and CaIIλλ8498.02, 8542.09, 8662.14 triplet
emission lines, as well as the NaIλλ8183.27, 8194.81
absorption doublet were used to measure the radial velocities of the
secondary stars in all four systems. A spectral decomposition/fitting
technique was then employed to isolate the contribution of each of the
components to the total spectrum, and to determine the white dwarf
effective temperatures and surface gravities, as well as the spectral
types of the companion stars. We used a light-curve modelling code for
close binary systems to fit the eclipse profiles and the ellipsoidal
modulation/reflection effect in the light curves, to further constrain
the masses and radii of the components in all systems. All three DA
white dwarfs have masses of MWD ~ 0.4-0.6Msolar,
in line with the expectations from close binary evolution. The DC white
dwarf in SDSS0303+0054 has a mass of MWD >~
0.85Msolar, making it unusually massive for a
post-common-envelope system. The companion stars in all four systems are
M dwarfs of spectral type M4 and later. Our new additions raise the
number of known eclipsing WDMS binaries to 14, and we find that the
average white dwarf mass in this sample is =0.57
+/- 0.16Msolar, only slightly lower than the average mass of
single white dwarfs. The majority of all eclipsing WDMS binaries contain
low-mass (<0.6Msolar) secondary stars, and will eventually
provide valuable observational input for the calibration of the
mass-radius relations of low-mass main-sequence stars and of white
dwarfs.
Related projects
Binary Stars
The study of binary stars is essential to stellar astrophysics. A large number of stars form and evolve within binary systems. Therefore, their study is fundamental to understand stellar and galactic evolution. Particularly relevant is that binary systems are still the best source of precise stellar mass and radius measurements. Research lines
Pablo
Rodríguez Gil