English

Dissecting the Quadruple Binary Hyad vA 351 -- Masses for three M Dwarfs and a White Dwarf

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2021-06-02 v1

Abstract

We extend results first announced by Franz et al. (1998), that identified vA 351 = H346 in the Hyades as a multiple star system containing a white dwarf. With Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor fringe tracking and scanning, and more recent speckle observations, all spanning 20.7 years, we establish a parallax, relative orbit, and mass fraction for two components, with a period, P=2.70P=2.70y and total mass 2.1 Msun. With ground-based radial velocities from the McDonald Observatory Otto Struve 2.1m telescope Sandiford Spectrograph, and Center for Astrophysics Digital Speedometers, spanning 37 years, we find that component B consists of BC, two M dwarf stars orbiting with a very short period (P_ BC=0.749 days), having a mass ratio M_C/M_B=0.95. We confirm that the total mass of the system can only be reconciled with the distance and component photometry by including a fainter, higher mass component. The quadruple system consists of three M dwarfs (A,B,C) and one white dwarf (D). We determine individual M dwarf masses M_A=0.53+/-0.10 Msun, M_B=0.43+/-0.04Msun, and M_C=0.41+/-0.04Msun. The WD mass, 0.54+/-0.04Msun, comes from cooling models, an assumed Hyades age of 670My, and consistency with all previous and derived astrometric, photometric, and RV results. Velocities from H-alpha and He I emission lines confirm the BC period derived from absorption lines, with similar (He I) and higher (H-alpha) velocity amplitudes. We ascribe the larger H-alpha amplitude to emission from a region each component shadows from the other, depending on the line of sight.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2104.02747,
  title  = {Dissecting the Quadruple Binary Hyad vA 351 -- Masses for three M Dwarfs and a White Dwarf},
  author = {G. Fritz Benedict and Otto G. Franz and Elliott P. Horch and L. Prato and Guillermo Torres and Barbara E. McArthur and Lawrence H. Wasserman and David W. Latham and Robert P. Stefanik and Christian Latham and Brian A. Skiff},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2104.02747},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

To appear in The Astronomical Journal. Full tables and animation available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cy71967po4u98xq/AAC1yWROgs7cPEFtjRTza9-ka?dl=0