Related papers: Where are all the Sirius-Like Binary Systems?

We present radial velocity observations of four extremely low-mass (0.2 Msol) white dwarfs. All four stars show peak-to-peak radial velocity variations of 540 - 710 km/s with 1.0 - 5.9 hr periods. The optical photometry rules out…

White dwarfs (WD) with main-sequence (MS) companions are crucial probes of stellar evolution. However, due to the significant difference in their luminosities, the WD is often outshined by the MS star. The aim of this work is to find hidden…

As the descendants of stars with masses less than 8 M$_{\odot}$ on the main sequence, white dwarfs provide a unique way to constrain planetary occurrence around intermediate-mass stars (spectral types BAF) that are otherwise difficult to…

The masses of compact objects like white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes are fundamental to astrophysics, but very difficult to measure. We present the results of an analysis of subluminous B (sdB) stars in close binary systems with…

We determine the fraction of G-dwarf stars that could host stable planetary systems based on the observed properties of binaries in the Galactic field, and in various postulated primordial binary populations, which assume that the…

We present medium resolution spectroscopy and multi-epoch VRI photometry for 21 new nearby (< 50 pc) white dwarf systems brighter than V ~ 17. Of the new systems, ten are DA (including a wide double degenerate system with two DA…

I review detached binaries consisting of white dwarfs with either other white dwarfs or low mass main-sequence stars in tight orbits around them. Orbital periods have been measured for 15 white dwarf/white dwarf systems and 22 white dwarf/M…

The project Massive Unseen Companions to Hot Faint Underluminous Stars from SDSS (MUCHFUSS) aims at finding hot subdwarf stars with massive compact companions like massive white dwarfs (M>1.0 M$_\odot$), neutron stars, or stellar-mass black…

The third data release of Gaia was the first to include orbital solutions assuming non-single stars. Here, we apply the astrometric triage technique of Shahaf et al. to identify binary star systems with companions that are not single…

We describe an astrometric and spectroscopic campaign to confirm the youth and association of a complete sample of candidate wide companions in Taurus and Upper Sco. Our survey found fifteen new binary systems (3 in Taurus and 12 in Upper…

Hot subdwarfs (sdBs) are core helium-burning stars, which lost almost their entire hydrogen envelope in the red-giant phase. Since a high fraction of those stars are in close binary systems, common envelope ejection is an important…

The NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has discovered almost all the known members of the new class of Y-type brown dwarfs. Most of these Y dwarfs have been identified as isolated objects in the field. It is known that binaries…

We present preliminary results of a radial-velocity search for companions to a volume limited sample of M dwarfs. Typical accuracy range between 10m/s for the brighter stars and 70m/s at our limiting magnitude. We complement the radial…

We describe a search for close spectroscopic dwarf M star binaries using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to address the question of the rate of occurrence of multiplicity in M dwarfs. We use a template fitting technique to…

The accretion of tidally disrupted planetary bodies is the current consensus model for the presence of photospheric metals commonly detected in white dwarfs. While most dynamical studies have considered a single star and associated…

We have identified 109 White Dwarf (WD) - M dwarf pairs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with g < 20th magnitude. For each system we determined the temperature of the WD primary and the spectral type of the M dwarf secondary. Using…

Only a handful of gas giant planets orbiting white dwarfs are known. It remains unclear whether this paucity reflects observational challenges or the consequences of stellar evolution. We aim to carry out population synthesis of substellar…

We present results of the largest, most comprehensive study ever done of the stellar multiplicity of the most common stars in the Galaxy, the red dwarfs. We have conducted an all-sky, volume-limited survey for stellar companions to 1120 M…

M dwarfs have become increasingly important in the detection of exoplanets and the study of Earth-sized planets and their habitability. However, 20-30% of M dwarfs have companions that can impact the formation and evolution of planetary…

We report the discovery of a locus of stars in the SDSS g-r vs. u-g color-color diagram that connects the colors of white dwarfs and M dwarfs. While its contrast with respect to the main stellar locus is only ~1:2300, this previously…