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Massive stars are predominantly found in binaries and higher order multiples. While the period and eccentricity distributions of OB stars are now well established across different metallicity regimes, the determination of mass-ratios has been mostly limited to double-lined spectroscopic binaries. As a consequence, the mass-ratio distribution remains subject to significant uncertainties. Open questions include the shape and extent of the companion mass-function towards its low-mass end and the nature of undetected companions in single-lined spectroscopic binaries. In this contribution, we present the results of a large and systematic analysis of a sample of over 80 single-lined O-type spectroscopic binaries (SB1s) in the Milky Way and in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We report on the developed methodology, the constraints obtained on the nature of SB1 companions, the distribution of O star mass-ratios at LMC metallicity and the occurrence of quiescent OB+black hole binaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the upcoming third Gaia data release (DR3), the first Gaia astrometric orbital solutions for binary sources will become available. Potentially, many rarely seen single-degenerate massive binaries with a black hole (OB+BH) will be revealed. Here, we investigate how many OB+BHs are expected to be detected as binaries in Gaia astrometry by using tailored models for the massive star population. We use a method based on the astrometric data to investigate how many OB+BH binaries will be uncovered by Gaia. We estimate that ∼200 OB+BHs are detectable among the sources in the second Alma Luminous Star massive star catalogue, either in DR3 or in upcoming data releases. Moreover, we show that BH-formation scenarios could be constrained from the distributions of parameters such as the orbital periods and eccentricities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive stars are predominantly found in binaries and higher order multiples. While the period and eccentricity distributions of OB stars are now well established across different metallicity regimes, the determination of mass-ratios has been mostly limited to double-lined spectroscopic binaries. As a consequence, the mass-ratio distribution remains subject to significant uncertainties. Open questions include the shape and extent of the companion mass-function towards its low-mass end and the nature of undetected companions in single-lined spectroscopic binaries. In this contribution, we present the results of a large and systematic analysis of a sample of over 80 single-lined O-type spectroscopic binaries (SB1s) in the Milky Way and in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We report on the developed methodology, the constraints obtained on the nature of SB1 companions, the distribution of O star mass-ratios at LMC metallicity and the occurrence of quiescent OB+black hole binaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the δ Scuti – red giant (RG) binary KIC 9773821, the first double-pulsator binary of its kind. It was observed by Kepler during its 4-yr mission. Our aims are to ascertain whether the system is bound, rather than a chance alignment, and to identify the evolutionary state of the RG via asteroseismology. An extension of these aims is to determine a dynamical mass and an age prior for a δ Sct star, which may permit mode identification via further asteroseismic modelling. We determine spectroscopic parameters and radial velocities (RVs) for the RG component using HERMES@Mercator spectroscopy. Light arrival-time delays from the δ Sct pulsations are used with the red-giant RVs to determine that the system is bound and to infer its orbital parameters, including the binary mass ratio. We use asteroseismology to model the individual frequencies of the red giant to give a mass of |$2.10^{+0.20}_{-0.10}$|  M⊙ and an age of |$1.08^{+0.06}_{-0.24}$|  Gyr. We find that it is a helium-burning secondary clump star, confirm that it follows the standard |$\nu _{\rm max}$| scaling relation, and confirm its observed period spacings match their theoretical counterparts in the modelling code mesa. Our results also constrain the mass and age of the δ Sct star. We leverage these constraints to construct δ Sct models in a reduced parameter space and identify four of its five pulsation modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the upcoming third Gaia data release (DR3), the first Gaia astrometric orbital solutions for binary sources will become available. Potentially, many rarely seen single-degenerate massive binaries with a black hole (OB+BH) will be revealed. Here, we investigate how many OB+BHs are expected to be detected as binaries in Gaia astrometry by using tailored models for the massive star population. We use a method based on the astrometric data to investigate how many OB+BH binaries will be uncovered by Gaia. We estimate that ∼200 OB+BHs are detectable among the sources in the second Alma Luminous Star massive star catalogue, either in DR3 or in upcoming data releases. Moreover, we show that BH-formation scenarios could be constrained from the distributions of parameters such as the orbital periods and eccentricities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]