Radial velocity measurements of Subdwarf B stars

TL;DR

This study provides extensive radial velocity measurements of subdwarf B stars, revealing that approximately half are in binary systems, which supports the theory that binary interactions are key to their evolution.

Contribution

The paper presents new binary parameters for 28 sdB systems and radial velocity data for 108 sdBs, expanding knowledge of their binary fraction and orbital characteristics.

Findings

Binary fraction estimated at 46-56% among sdB stars.

28 new binary systems characterized with orbital parameters.

88 sdB stars show no significant orbital motion.

Abstract

Subdwarf B (sdB) stars are hot, sub-luminous stars which are thought to be core-helium burning with thin hydrogen envelopes. The mechanism by which these stars lose their envelopes has been controversial but it has been argued that binary star interaction is the main cause. Over the past decade we have conducted a radial velocity study of a large sample of sdB stars, and have shown that a significant fraction of the field sdB population exists in binary systems. In 2002 and 2003 we published 23 new binary sdB stars and the definitions of their orbits. Here we present the continuation of this project. We give the binary parameters for 28 systems, 18 of which are new. We present also our radial velocity measurements of a further 108 sdBs. Of these, 88 show no significant evidence of orbital motion. The remaining 20 do show radial velocity variations, and so are good candidates for further study. Based on these results, our best estimate for the binary fraction in the sdB population is 46 - 56 per cent. This is a lower bound since the radial velocity variations of very long period systems would be difficult to detect over the baseline of our programme, and for some sources we have only a small number of measurements.