English

A compact object with a K type star companion in the solar neighborhood: a wide post common envelope binary with a white dwarf candidate

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2026-02-20 v2 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Abstract

Post-common envelope binaries (PCEBs) consisting of a white dwarf (WD) plus a main-sequence (MS) star can constrain current prescriptions of common envelope evolution (CEE) and calibrate theoretical models of binary formation and evolution. Most PCEBs studied to date have typical orbital periods of hours to a few days and can be well explained by assuming inefficient CEE to expel the envelope. However, there are currently several systems with relatively wide orbital periods (>>18 days). To explain these wide PCEBs, additional sources of energy have been suggested to be taken into account. Here, we present the discovery and observational characterization of a compact object (M0.58MM\,\geq\,0.58\,\rm M_{\odot}) with a K-type star companion in the solar neighborhood (d112d\sim 112 pc) and an orbital period of Porb14P_{\rm orb}\sim 14 days. The compact object binary is likely to be a system consisting of a WD and a barium dwarf, making it the shortest-period barium star binary candidate. Such a system with an orbital period within the gap between tight and wide binaries provides a test of whether additional energy sources are required to explain its formation. Using binary evolution models, we investigate the evolutionary history of this wide PCEB system and find that the observed properties of this source can be explained without invoking any extra energy source.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.15619,
  title  = {A compact object with a K type star companion in the solar neighborhood: a wide post common envelope binary with a white dwarf candidate},
  author = {Jie Lin and Hailiang Chen and Bojun Wang and Yudong Luo and Wenshi Tang and Bo Huang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.15619},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

13 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ