Simplified Method for the Identification of Low Mass Ratio Contact Binary Systems that are Potential Red Nova Progenitors

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simplified approach to identify low mass contact binary systems that could evolve into red novae by analyzing light curve amplitudes and infrared colours, aiding in the discovery of potential progenitors.

Contribution

It proposes a new, straightforward method to find potential red nova progenitors among contact binaries using light curve amplitude and infrared colour criteria.

Findings

Identified about 50 potential bright red nova progenitors.

Each system shows physical signs of potential orbital instability.

Modeled instability separation and period for low mass contact binaries.

Abstract

The study presents a simplified method to identify potential bright red nova progenitors based on the amplitude of the light curve and infrared (J-H) colour of a contact binary system. We employ published criteria for contact binary orbital instability to show that the amplitude of the light curve for a given contact system with a low mass (< 1.4Msun) primary must be less than a specified value for it to be potentially unstable. Using this we search the photometric data of a large survey to identify about 50 potential bright red nova progenitors. We analyse the survey photometry of each to determine the mass ratio and from the estimated mass of the primary other physical parameters of the systems. We show that each system has physical characteristics indicating potential orbital instability. Using the absolute parameters from our sample we model the expected instability separation and period for low mass contact binary systems