Search

We use the data provided by the Gaia Early Data Release 3 to search for a highly-complete volume-limited sample of unresolved binaries consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence companion (i.e. WDMS binaries) within 100pc. We select 112 objects based on their location within the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, of which 97 are new identifications. We fit their spectral energy distributions (SED) with a two-body fitting algorithm implemented in VOSA (Virtual Observatory SED Analyser) to derive the effective temperatures, luminosities and radii (hence surface gravities and masses) of both components. The stellar parameters are compared to those from the currently largest catalogue of close WDMS binaries, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find important differences between the properties of the Gaia and SDSS samples. In particular, the Gaia sample contains WDMS binaries with considerably cooler white dwarfs and main sequence companions (some expected to be brown dwarfs). The Gaia sample also shows an important population of systems consisting of cool and extremely low-mass white dwarfs, not present in the SDSS sample. Finally, using a Monte Carlo population synthesis code, we find that the volume-limited sample of systems identified here seems to be highly complete (~80+-9 per cent), however it only represents ~9 per cent of the total underlying population. The missing ~91 per cent includes systems in which the main sequence companions entirely dominate the SEDs. We also estimate an upper limit to the total space density of close WDMS binaries of ~(3.7+-1.9)x10^{-4} pc{-3}., Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata

We use the data provided by the Gaia Early Data Release 3 to search for a highly complete volume-limited sample of unresolved binaries consisting of a white dwarf and a main-sequence companion (i.e. WDMS binaries) within 100 pc. We select 112 objects based on their location within the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, of which 97 are new identifications. We fit their spectral energy distributions (SED) with a two-body fitting algorithm implemented in VOSA (Virtual Observatory SED Analyser) to derive the effective temperatures, luminosities, and radii (hence surface gravities and masses) of both components. The stellar parameters are compared to those from the currently largest catalogue of close WDMS binaries, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find important differences between the properties of the Gaia and SDSS samples. In particular, the Gaia sample contains WDMS binaries with considerably cooler white dwarfs and main-sequence companions (some expected to be brown dwarfs). The Gaia sample also shows an important population of systems consisting of cool and extremely low-mass white dwarfs, not present in the SDSS sample. Finally, using a Monte Carlo population synthesis code, we find that the volume-limited sample of systems identified here seems to be highly complete (≃ 80 ± 9 per cent); however, it only represents ≃9 per cent of the total underlying population. The missing ≃91 per cent includes systems in which the main-sequence companions entirely dominate the SEDs. We also estimate an upper limit to the total space density of close WDMS binaries of ≃ (3.7 ± 1.9) × 10-4 pc-3., ARM acknowledges financial support from the MINECO under the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2016-20254). ST and ARM acknowledge support from the MINECO under the AYA2017-86274-P grant and the AGAUR grant SGR-661/2017. ESM and FJE acknowledge financial support from the MINECO under the AYA2017-86274-P grant. FJE acknowledges support from the H2020 ESCAPE project (grant agreement no. 824064). LMC, LGA, and AHC acknowledge support from Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica through the Programa de Modernización Tecnológica BID 1728/OC-AR and from CONICET through the PIP 2017-2019 GI grant. This publication makes use of VOSA and SVO DiscTool, developed under the Spanish Virtual Observatory project supported from the Spanish MINECO through grant AyA2017-84089. This research has made use of Aladin sky atlas developed at CDS, Strasbourg Observatory, France (Bonnarel et al. 2000; Boch & Fernique 2014). TOPCAT (Taylor 2005) and STILTS (Taylor 2006) have also been widely used in this paper.