Detection of a tertiary brown dwarf companion in the sdB-type eclipsing binary HS 0705+6700

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a tertiary brown dwarf companion orbiting the eclipsing sdB binary HS 0705+6700, based on cyclic variations in eclipse timings indicating a third body's gravitational influence.

Contribution

It presents the first detection of a sub-stellar companion in an sdB binary via light-travel time effect analysis, providing new insights into stellar evolution and binary interactions.

Findings

Cyclic variation in eclipse timings with a period of 7.15 years.

The third body likely has a mass below 0.072 Msun, making it a brown dwarf.

The tertiary companion orbits within 3.6 AU of the binary.

Abstract

HS 0705+6700 is a short-period (P=2.3 hours), close binary containing a hot sdB-type primary and a fully convective secondary. We have monitored this eclipsing binary for more than 2 years and as a result, 32 times of light minimum were obtained. Based on our new eclipse times together with these compiled from the literature, it is discovered that the O-C curve of HS 0705+6700 shows a cyclic variation with a period of 7.15 years and a semiamplitude of 92.4 s. The periodic change was analyzed for the light-travel time effect that may be due to the presence of a tertiary companion. The mass of the third body is determined to be M3 sin i = 0.0377 (+/-0.0043) Msun when a total mass of 0.617 Msun for HS 0705+6700 is adopted. For orbital inclinations i >= 32.8, the mass of the tertiary component would be below the stable hydrogen-burning limit of M3~0.072 Msun, and thus it would be a brown dwarf. The third body is orbiting the sdB-type binary at a distance shorter than 3.6 astronomical units (AU). HS 0705+6700 was formed through the evolution of a common envelope after the primary becomes a red giant. The detection of a sub-stellar companion in HS 0705+6700 system at this distance from the binary could give some constraints on stellar evolution in such systems and the interactions between red giants and their companions.