The SDSS-HET Survey of Kepler Eclipsing Binaries. A Sample of Four Benchmark Binaries

TL;DR

This study extends the sample of precisely modeled Kepler eclipsing binaries by analyzing four well-behaved systems, providing highly accurate masses and radii, and comparing them with stellar evolution models to determine their ages.

Contribution

It introduces four benchmark-grade eclipsing binaries with precise measurements, expanding the parameter space for well-characterized detached binaries.

Findings

Masses and radii determined with ≤2.5% uncertainty

Three systems have orbital periods >9 days, filling a gap in data

All systems are coeval, consistent with stellar models

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to extend a sample of accurately modeled, benchmark-grade eclipsing binaries with accurately determined masses and radii. We select four "well-behaved" Kepler binaries, KIC2306740, KIC4076952, KIC5193386 and KIC5288543, each with at least 8 double-lined spectra from the apogee instrument that is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys III and IV, and from the Hobby-Eberly High Resolution Spectrograph. We obtain masses and radii with uncertainties of 2.5% or less for all four systems. Three of these systems have orbital periods longer than 9 days, and thus populate an under-sampled region of the parameter space for extremely well-characterized detached eclipsing binaries. We compare the derived masses and radii against MESA MIST isochrones to determine the ages of the systems. All systems were found to be coeval, showing that the results are consistent across MESA MIST and PHOEBE.