The ESA Hipparcos satellite made measurements of over 12,000 double stars and discovered 3406 new systems. In addition to these, 4706 entries in the Hipparcos Catalogue correspond to double star solutions that did not provide the classical parameters of separation and position angle ({rho}, {theta}) but were the so-called problem stars, flagged "G," "O," "V," or "X" (field H59 of the main catalog). An additional subset of 6981 entries were treated as single objects but classified by Hipparcos as "suspected nonsingle" (flag "S" in field H61), thus yielding a total of 11,687 "problem stars." Of the many ground-based techniques for the study of double stars, probably the one with the greatest potential for exploration of these new and problem Hipparcos binaries is speckle interferometry. Results are presented from an inspection of 848 new and problem Hipparcos binaries, using both archival and new speckle observations obtained with the USNO and CHARA speckle cameras.
We present a cross-calibration of Hipparcos and Gaia EDR3 intended to identify astrometrically accelerating stars and to fit orbits to stars with faint, massive companions. The resulting catalog, the EDR3 edition of the Hipparcos-Gaia Catalog of Accelerations (HGCA), provides three proper motions with calibrated uncertainties on the EDR3 reference frame: the Hipparcos proper motion, the Gaia EDR3 proper motion, and the long-term proper motion given by the difference in position between Hipparcos and Gaia EDR3. Our approach is similar to that for the Gaia DR2 edition of the HGCA but offers a factor of ~3 improvement in precision thanks to the longer time baseline and improved data processing of Gaia EDR3. We again find that a 60/40 mixture of the two Hipparcos reductions outperforms either reduction individually, and we find strong evidence for locally variable frame rotations between all pairs of proper motion measurements. The substantial global frame rotation seen in DR2 proper motions has been removed in EDR3. We also correct for color- and magnitude-dependent frame rotations at a level of up to ~50{mu}as/yr in Gaia EDR3. We calibrate the Gaia EDR3 uncertainties using a sample of radial velocity standard stars without binary companions; we find an error inflation factor (a ratio of total to formal uncertainty) of 1.37. This is substantially lower than the position-dependent factor of ~1.7 found for Gaia DR2 and reflects the improved data processing in EDR3. While the catalog should be used with caution, its proper motion residuals provide a powerful tool to measure the masses and orbits of faint, massive companions to nearby stars.
In this paper, we present a catalog that includes 141 bright candidates (<=10.27mag, V band) showing an excess of infrared (IR) at 22{mu}m. Of these 141 candidates, 38 stars are known IR-excess stars or disks, 23 stars are double or multiple stars, and 4 are Be stars while the remaining more than 70 stars are identified as 22 {mu}m excess candidates in our work. The criterion for selecting candidates is K_s_-[22]_{mu}m_. All these candidates are selected from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer all-sky data cross-correlated with the Hipparcos main catalog and the likelihood-ratio technique is employed. Considering the effect of background, we introduce the IRAS 100{mu}m level to exclude the high background. We also estimate the coincidence probability of these sources. In addition, we present the optical to mid-IR spectral energy distributions and optical images for all the candidates, and give the observed optical spectra of six stars with the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences' 2.16m telescope. To measure for the amount of dust around each star, the fractional luminosity is also provided. We also test whether our method of selecting IR-excess stars can be used to search for extra-solar planets; we cross-match our catalog with known IR-excess stars with planets but found no matches. Finally, we give the fraction of stars showing excess IR for different spectral types of main-sequence stars.
A sample consisting of 570 binary systems is compiled from several sources of visual binary stars with well-known orbital elements. High-precision trigonometric parallaxes (mean relative error about 5%) and proper motions (mean relative error about 3%) are extracted from the Hipparcos Catalogue or from the reprocessed Hipparcos data. However, 13% of the sample stars lack radial velocity measurements. Computed galactic velocity components and other kinematic parameters are used to divide the sample stars into kinematic age groups. The majority (89%) of the sample stars, with known radial velocities, are the thin disk stars, 9.5% binaries have thick disk kinematics and only 1.4% are halo stars. 85% of thin disk binaries are young or medium age stars and almost 15% are old thin disk stars. There is an urgent need to increase the number of the identified halo binary stars with known orbits and substantially improve the situation with their radial velocity data. Based on the data from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite (ESA)
This paper continues kinematical investigation of the Hipparcos visual binaries with known orbits. A sample, consisting of 804 binary systems with orbital elements determined from ground-based observations, is selected. The mean relative error of their parallaxes is about 12% and the mean relative error of proper motions is about 4%. However, even 41% of the sample stars lack radial velocity measurements. The computed Galactic velocity components and other kinematical parameters are used to divide the stars with known radial velocities into kinematical age groups. The majority (92%) of binaries from the sample are thin disk stars, 7.6% have thick disk kinematics and only two binaries have halo kinematics. Among them, the long-period variable Mira Ceti has a very discordant Hipparcos and ground-based parallax values. From the whole sample, 60 stars are ascribed to the thick disk and halo population. There is an urgent need to increase the number of the identified halo binaries with known orbits and substantially improve the situation with radial velocity data for stars with known orbits. Based on the data from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite (ESA)
We present 11 years of HIRES precision radial velocities (RVs) of the nearby M3V star Gliese 581, combining our data set of 122 precision RVs with an existing published 4.3-year set of 119 HARPS precision RVs (Mayor et al., 2009, Cat. J/A+A/507/487). The velocity set now indicates six companions in Keplerian motion around this star. Differential photometry indicates a likely stellar rotation period of ~94 days and reveals no significant periodic variability at any of the Keplerian periods, supporting planetary orbital motion as the cause of all the RV variations. The estimated equilibrium temperature of the sixth planet, GJ 581g, is 228K, placing it squarely in the middle of the habitable zone of the star and offering a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet around a very nearby star. This detection, coupled with statistics of the incompleteness of present-day precision RV surveys for volume-limited samples of stars in the immediate solar neighborhood, suggests that {eta}_{oplus}_, the fraction of stars with potentially habitable planets, could well be on the order of a few tens of percent.
In this paper we search for distant massive companions to known transiting gas giant planets that may have influenced the dynamical evolution of these systems. We present new radial velocity observations for a sample of 51 planets obtained using the Keck HIRES instrument, and find statistically significant accelerations in fifteen systems. Six of these systems have no previously reported accelerations in the published literature: HAT-P-10, HAT-P-22, HAT-P-29, HAT-P-32, WASP-10, and XO-2. We combine our radial velocity fits with Keck NIRC2 adaptive optics (AO) imaging data to place constraints on the allowed masses and orbital periods of the companions responsible for the detected accelerations. The estimated masses of the companions range between 1-500 M_Jup_, with orbital semi-major axes typically between 1-75 AU. A significant majority of the companions detected by our survey are constrained to have minimum masses comparable to or larger than those of the transiting planets in these systems, making them candidates for influencing the orbital evolution of the inner gas giant. We estimate a total occurrence rate of 51%+/-10% for companions with masses between 1-13 M_Jup_ and orbital semi-major axes between 1-20 AU in our sample. We find no statistically significant difference between the frequency of companions to transiting planets with misaligned or eccentric orbits and those with well-aligned, circular orbits. We combine our expanded sample of radial velocity measurements with constraints from transit and secondary eclipse observations to provide improved measurements of the physical and orbital characteristics of all of the planets included in our survey.
Understanding the relationship between long-period giant planets and multiple smaller short-period planets is critical for formulating a complete picture of planet formation. This work characterizes three such systems. We present Kepler-65, a system with an eccentric (e=0.28+/-0.07) giant planet companion discovered via radial velocities (RVs) exterior to a compact, multiply transiting system of sub-Neptune planets. We also use precision RVs to improve mass and radius constraints on two other systems with similar architectures, Kepler-25 and Kepler-68. In Kepler-68 we propose a second exterior giant planet candidate. Finally, we consider the implications of these systems for planet formation models, particularly that the moderate eccentricity in Kepler-65's exterior giant planet did not disrupt its inner system.
Sirius, the seventh-nearest stellar system, is a visual binary containing the metallic-line A1 V star Sirius A, the brightest star in the sky, orbited in a 50.13 year period by Sirius B, the brightest and nearest white dwarf (WD). Using images obtained over nearly two decades with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), along with photographic observations covering almost 20 years and nearly 2300 historical measurements dating back to the 19th century, we determine precise orbital elements for the visual binary. Combined with the parallax and the motion of the A component, these elements yield dynamical masses of 2.063+/-0.023M_{sun}_ and 1.018+/-0.011M_{sun}_ for Sirius A and B, respectively. Our precise HST astrometry rules out third bodies orbiting either star in the system, down to masses of ~15-25M_{Jup}_. The location of Sirius B in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is in excellent agreement with theoretical cooling tracks for WDs of its dynamical mass, and implies a cooling age of ~126Myr. The position of Sirius B on the mass-radius plane is also consistent with WD theory, assuming a carbon-oxygen core. Including the pre-WD evolutionary timescale of the assumed progenitor, the total age of Sirius B is about 228+/-10Myr. We calculated evolutionary tracks for stars with the dynamical mass of Sirius A, using two independent codes. We find it necessary to assume a slightly subsolar metallicity, of about 0.85Z_{sun}_, to fit its location on the luminosity-radius plane. The age of Sirius A based on these models is about 237-247Myr, with uncertainties of +/-15Myr, consistent with that of the WD companion. We discuss astrophysical puzzles presented by the Sirius system, including the probability that the two stars must have interacted in the past, even though there is no direct evidence for this and the orbital eccentricity remains high.
We present the results of the second part of a high resolution imaging survey of hot Jupiter host stars. We search for binary companions to known transiting exoplanet host stars, in order to determine the multiplicity properties of hot Jupiter host stars. We also search for and characterise unassociated stars along the line of sight, allowing photometric and spectroscopic observations of the planetary system to be corrected for contaminating light.
