1. Post-AGB stars with hot circumstellar dust: binarity of the low-amplitude pulsators
- Author
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Bart Vandenbussche, Gert Raskin, Martin Groenewegen, Fred Marang, W. Zima, Peter Martinez, T. Maas, D. Ladjal, Tom Lloyd Evans, Laurent Eyer, Roy Ostensen, Pieter Deroo, K. Uytterhoeven, Maryline Briquet, Maarten Reyniers, Hans Van Winckel, Wim De Meester, Sophie Saesen, M. Desmet, Joris De Ridder, Peter De Cat, R. Drummond, M. Vučković, Christoffel Waelkens, Karolien Lefever, Pieter Degroote, Francois van Wyk, J. Vanautgaerden, Katrien Kolenberg, David Kilkenny, and Pierre Royer
- Subjects
iras-08544-4431 ,red-rectangle ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astrophysics ,system ,low-resolution spectroscopy ,chemically peculiar [stars] ,Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics ,Orbital elements ,Physics ,Solar mass ,depletion ,binaries: general [stars] ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,rv-tauri stars ,Radial velocity ,Stars ,classification ,Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,cepheids ,Space and Planetary Science ,evolution [stars] ,discs ,planetary-nebulae ,Orbital motion ,Circumstellar dust ,Spectral energy distribution ,Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ,Circumbinary planet ,agb and post-agb [stars] ,binaries: spectroscopic [stars] - Abstract
While the first binary post-AGB stars were serendipitously discovered, the distinct characteristics of their Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) allowed us to launch a more systematic search for binaries. We selected post-AGB objects which show a broad dust excess often starting already at H or K, pointing to the presence of a gravitationally bound dusty disc in the system. We started a very extensive multi-wavelength study of those systems and here we report on our radial velocity and photometric monitoring results for six stars of early F type, which are pulsators of small amplitude. To determine the radial velocity of low signal-to-noise time-series, we constructed dedicated auto-correlation masks. The radial velocity variations were subjected to detailed analysis to differentiate between pulsational variability and variability due to orbital motion. Finally orbital minimalisation was performed to constrain the orbital elements. All of the six objects are binaries, with orbital periods ranging from 120 to 1800 days. Five systems have non-circular orbits. The mass functions range from 0.004 to 0.57 solar mass and the companions are likely unevolved objects of (very) low initial mass. We argue that these binaries must have been subject to severe binary interaction when the primary was a cool supergiant. Although the origin of the circumstellar disc is not well understood, the disc is generally believed to be formed during this strong interaction phase. The eccentric orbits of these highly evolved objects remain poorly understood. With the measured orbits and mass functions we conclude that the circumbinary discs seem to have a major impact on the evolution of a significant fraction of binary systems., 13 pages, 15 figures, accepted for Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2009
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