| Issue |
A&A
Volume 578, June 2015
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | A136 | |
| Number of page(s) | 7 | |
| Section | Stellar structure and evolution | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201525747 | |
| Published online | 17 June 2015 | |
Orbital period changes and the higher-order multiplicity fraction amongst SuperWASP eclipsing binaries⋆
1 Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
e-mail: Marcus.Lohr@open.ac.uk
2 Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Received: 26 January 2015
Accepted: 29 April 2015
Orbital period changes of binary stars may be caused by the presence of a third massive body in the system. Here we have searched the archive of the Wide Angle Search for Planets (SuperWASP) project for evidence of period variations in 13 927 eclipsing binary candidates. Sinusoidal period changes, strongly suggestive of third bodies, were detected in 2% of cases; however, linear period changes were observed in a further 22% of systems. We argue on distributional grounds that the majority of these apparently linear changes are likely to reflect longer-term sinusoidal period variations caused by third bodies, and thus estimate a higher-order multiplicity fraction of 24% for SuperWASP binaries, in good agreement with other recent figures for the fraction of triple systems amongst binary stars in general.
Key words: stars: variables: general / binaries : close / binaries: eclipsing
Tables A.1 to A.6 are available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/578/A136
© ESO, 2015
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