Bibcode
Rebassa-Mansergas, A.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Schreiber, M. R.; Koester, D.; Rodríguez-Gil, P.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 402, Issue 1, pp. 620-640.
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2
2010
Citations
127
Refereed citations
102
Description
We present a catalogue of 1602 white-dwarf-main-sequence (WDMS) binaries
from the spectroscopic Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 (SDSS
DR6). Among these, we identify 440 as new WDMS binaries. We select WDMS
binary candidates by template fitting all 1.27 million DR6 spectra,
using combined constraints in both χ2 and signal-to-noise
ratio. In addition, we use Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and UKIRT
Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS) magnitudes to search for objects in which
one of the two components dominates the SDSS spectrum. We use a
decomposition/fitting technique to measure the effective temperatures,
surface gravities, masses and distances to the white dwarfs, as well as
the spectral types and distances to the companions in our catalogue.
Distributions and density maps obtained from these stellar parameters
are then used to study both the general properties and the selection
effects of WDMS binaries in the SDSS. A comparison between the distances
measured to the white dwarfs and the main-sequence companions shows
dsec > dwd for approximately one-fifth of the
systems, a tendency already found in our previous work. The hypothesis
that magnetic activity raises the temperature of the inter-spot regions
in active stars that are heavily covered by cool spots, leading to a
bluer optical colour compared to inactive stars, remains the best
explanation for this behaviour. We also make use of SDSS-GALEX-UKIDSS
magnitudes to investigate the distribution of WDMS binaries, as well as
their white-dwarf effective temperatures and companion star spectral
types, in ultraviolet to infrared colour space. We show that WDMS
binaries can be very efficiently separated from single main-sequence
stars and white dwarfs when using a combined ultraviolet, optical and
infrared colour selection. Finally, we also provide radial velocities
for 1068 systems measured from the NaI λλ8183.27, 8194.81
absorption doublet and/or the Hα emission line. Among the systems
with multiple SDSS spectroscopy, we find five new systems exhibiting
significant radial velocity variations, identifying them as
post-common-envelope binary candidates.
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