English

KIC 6464285: A Solar-type Eclipsing Binary in a Hierarchical Triple System with Quasi-periodic Out-of-eclipse Modulations

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2026-07-21 v1

Abstract

We present the first detailed analysis of the solar-type triple system KIC 6464285. Combining long-term, high-precision photometry from Kepler, TESS, and ZTF with low-resolution spectra from LAMOST and near-infrared high-resolution spectra from SDSS/APOGEE, we performed a joint analysis of the light curves, eclipse timing variations (ETVs), and radial velocities. Spectroscopic analysis reveals the system to be triple-lined, with the inner binary's primary being a G-type main-sequence star and a mass ratio of 0.627(7)0.627(7). Light curve modeling indicates that the inner binary is detached, with filling factors of approximately 26\% and 11\% for the primary and secondary, respectively, and a tertiary light contribution of about 27\%. ETV analysis shows a significant light-travel-time effect (LTTE), consistent with the presence of the tertiary companion, whose minimum mass is estimated as M3,min=0.74(1) MM_{3,\rm min}=0.74(1)~M_\odot. The light curve exhibits a pronounced O'Connell effect and quasi-periodic variations, indicative of starspot activity modulating the photometry on a \sim131-day timescale. Kepler observations further reveal 30 superflares, each with total energies exceeding 103410^{34} erg. This study presents detailed observational constraints on the orbital configuration, stellar properties, and magnetic activity of KIC 6464285, providing a benchmark for studies of hierarchical triple systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.18811,
  title  = {KIC 6464285: A Solar-type Eclipsing Binary in a Hierarchical Triple System with Quasi-periodic Out-of-eclipse Modulations},
  author = {Fang-Bin Meng and Li-Ying Zhu and Sheng-Bang Qian and Ildar Asfandiyarov and Azizbek Matekov and Jaqsiliq Baltamuratov and Wen-Ping Liao and A-Li Luo and Wen Hou and Ping Li and Lin-Jia Li and Er-Gang Zhao and Jia-Jia He},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.18811},
  year   = {2026}
}