Related papers: Unresolved binaries and Galactic clusters' mass es…
During the past 20 years, the idea that non-spherical planetary nebulae (PN) may need a binary or planetary interaction to be shaped was discussed by various authors. It is now generally agreed that the varied morphologies of PN cannot be…
For synthesising star clusters and whole galaxies, stellar populations need to be modelled by a set of four functions that define their initial distribution of stellar masses and of the orbital properties of their binary-star populations.…
Asteroseismology has become an indispensable method for measuring stellar ages and radii, while binary systems remain the most prevalent tool for determining stellar masses. The synergy of the two, namely pulsating stars in binary systems,…
The stellar mass-luminosity relation is poorly constrained by observations for high mass stars. We describe our program to find eclipsing massive binaries in the Magellanic Clouds using photometry of regions rich in massive stars, and our…
Approximately 10 per cent of star clusters are found in pairs, known as binary clusters. We propose a mechanism for binary cluster formation; we use N-body simulations to show that velocity substructure in a single (even fairly smooth)…
Detached eclipsing binaries are very useful objects for calibrating theoretical stellar models and checking their predictions. Detached eclipsing binaries in open clusters are particularly important because of the additional constraints on…
The masses of stars including stellar remnants are almost exclusively known from binary systems. In this work, we study gravitational microlensing of faint background galaxies by isolated neutron stars (pulsars). We show that the resulting…
We analyze 9 open clusters with ages in the range 70 Myr to 3.2 Gyr using UCAC2 proper motion data and 2MASS photometry. For each cluster we consider the projected velocity distributions in the core and off-core regions separately. In the…
The dynamical evolution of globular clusters (GCs) is tied to their binary population, as binaries segregate to the cluster centre, leading to an increased binary fraction in the core. This central overabundance of mainly hard binaries can…
We model the dynamics of test binaries in isotropic, multi-mass models of galactic globular clusters. The evolution of binary orbits through the cluster potentials is modeled, including second order diffusion terms, and probabilities for…
The recent sample of 21 detached eclipsing binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud (Harries et al. 2003, Hilditch et al. 2005) provides a valuable test of the binary mass function for massive stars. We show that 50% of detached binaries have…
Observations of binaries have traditionally provided the means for ascertaining stellar masses. Here, we use the published data on 8 pre-main-sequence pairs to gauge the accuracy of our own, recently calculated, evolutionary tracks (Palla &…
We summarize the results of recent theoretical work on the dynamical evolution of globular clusters containing primordial binaries. Even a very small initial binary fraction (e.g., 10%) can play a key role in supporting a cluster against…
In this review I first summarize why binaries are key objects in the study of stellar populations, key objects to understand the evolution of star clusters, key objects to understand galaxies and thus the universe. I then focus on 4…
Context. Understanding the formation and evolution of star clusters in the Milky Way requires precise identification of clusters that form binary or multiple systems. Such systems offer valuable insight into the dynamical processes and…
We investigate the dynamical formation and evolution of binaries containing neutron stars in dense globular clusters. Our numerical simulations combine a simple Monte Carlo prescription for stellar dynamics, a sophisticated binary…
Massive stars rapidly change their masses through strong stellar winds and mass transfer in binary systems. We show that such mass changes leave characteristic signatures in stellar mass functions of young star clusters which can be used to…
We present results of Monte Carlo simulation aiming at the estimate of the frequency of semi-detached Algol-type binaries among the stars observed as single ones. When account is made for various detection biases (mostly due to inclination…
The unparalleled photometric data obtained by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has led to an improved understanding of stellar structure and evolution - in particular for solar-like oscillators in this context. Binary stars are fascinating…
We used deep observations collected with ACS@HST to derive the fraction of binary systems in a sample of thirteen low-density Galactic globular clusters. By analysing the color distribution of Main Sequence stars we derived the minimum…