Wide binaries in Planetary Nebulae with Gaia DR2

TL;DR

This study utilizes Gaia DR2 data to identify and analyze wide binary systems associated with central stars of planetary nebulae, providing insights into their evolutionary status and binary characteristics.

Contribution

First identification of wide binary companions to CSPNe using Gaia DR2 astrometry, with detailed analysis of their properties and evolutionary implications.

Findings

8 wide binary systems identified among CSPNe

One triple system discovered

Binary companions' properties consistent with post-AGB evolutionary models

Abstract

Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) was used to select a sample of 211 central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) with good quality astrometric measurements, that we refer to as GAPN, Golden Astrometry Planetary Nebulae. Gaia astrometric and photometric measurements allowed us to derive accurate distances and radii, and to calculate luminosities with the addition of self-consistent literature values. Such information was used to plot the position of these stars in a Hertzsprung-Russel (HR) diagram and to study their evolutionary status in comparison with CSPNe evolutionary tracks. The extremely precise measurement of parallaxes and proper motions in Gaia DR2 has allowed us to search for wide binary companions in a region close to each of the central stars in the GAPN sample. We limited our search to a region around 20,000 AU of each CSPN to minimise accidental detections, and only considered stars with good parallax and proper motions data, i.e. with errors below 30% in DR2. We determined that the hypothetical binary pairs should show a statistically significant agreement for the three astrometric quantities, i.e. parallax and both components of proper motions. We found 8 wide binary systems among our GAPN sample. One of them is in a triple system. We compiled the astrometric and photometric measurements of these binary systems and discussed them in comparison with previously published searches for binaries in PNe. By analysing the position in the HR diagram of the companion stars using Gaia photometry, we are able to estimatetheir temperatures, luminosities, masses and, for one star, the evolutionary age. The derived quantities yield a consistent scenario when compared with the corresponding values as obtained for the central stars using stellar evolutionary models in the postAGB phase.