Seven new triply eclipsing triple star systems

¹ HUN–REN–SZTE Stellar Astrophysics Research Group, Szegedi út, Kt. 766, 6500 Baja, Hungary
² Department of Physics, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
e-mail: sar@mit.edu
³ Baja Astronomical Observatory of University of Szeged, Szegedi út, Kt. 766, 6500 Baja, Hungary
e-mail: borko@electra.bajaobs.hu
⁴ Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
⁵ ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Gothard Astrophysical Observatory, Szent Imre h. u. 112, 9700 Szombathely, Hungary
⁶ HUN–REN–ELTE Exoplanet Research Group, Szent Imre h. u. 112, 9700 Szombathely, Hungary
⁷ Amateur Astronomer, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA
⁸ Centre For Computation Astrophysics, New York, NY, USA
⁹ Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
¹⁰ Amateur Astronomer, 12812 SE 69th Place, Bellevue, WA 98006, USA
¹¹ Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory | NSF’s NOIRLab, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
¹² NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
¹³ SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Suite 200, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
¹⁴ Citizen Scientist, c/o Zooniverse, Dept., of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
¹⁵ Brorfelde Observatory, Observator Gyldenkernes Vej 7, 4340 Tølløse, Denmark
¹⁶ National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej 327, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark
¹⁷ Amateur Astronomer, 7507 52nd Place NE, Marysville, WA 98270, USA
¹⁸ Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 05960 Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia
¹⁹ Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK

Received: 19 January 2024
Accepted: 8 March 2024

Abstract

Aims. We have identified nearly a hundred close triply eclipsing hierarchical triple star systems from data taken with the space telescope TESS. These systems are noteworthy in that we can potentially determine their dynamical and astrophysical parameters with a high precision. In the present paper, we report the comprehensive study of seven new compact triply eclipsing triple star systems taken from this larger sample: TICs 133771812, 176713425, 185615681, 287756035, 321978218, 323486857, and 650024463.

Methods. Most of the data for this study come from TESS observations, but two of them have Gaia measurements of their outer orbits, and we obtained supplemental radial velocity (RV) measurements for three of the systems. The eclipse timing variation curves extracted from the TESS data, the photometric light curves, the RV points, and the spectral energy distribution (SED) are combined in a complex photodynamical analysis to yield the stellar and orbital parameters of all seven systems.

Results. Four of the systems are quite compact with outer periods in the range of 41–56 days. All of the systems are substantially flat, with mutual inclination angles of ≲2°. Including the systems reported in this work, we have now studied in considerable detail some 30 triply eclipsing triples with TESS, and are accumulating a meaningful census of these systems.