Binary Systems Search with TESS

TL;DR

This study uses TESS short cadence data to search for close companions to pulsating hot subdwarf B stars via the timing method, identifying likely white dwarf companions and constraining others' masses.

Contribution

It applies the timing method to TESS data for sdB stars to detect or limit close binary companions within 13.5 days orbital period.

Findings

Two sdB stars likely have white dwarf companions.

Limits on companion masses for eight other sdB stars.

Detected pulsation frequencies suitable for timing analysis.

Abstract

Hot subdwarf B (sdB) stars are post-main-sequence stars of high temperature and gravity. Approximately 30$\%$ of sdBs exhibit stable pressure and/or gravity-mode pulsations, which can be used via the timing method to test for companion stars and determine their orbital solutions. We used short cadence data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to search for previously undiscovered companions to sdBs. In this paper, we focus on searching for companions with orbital periods shorter than 13.5$\,$d which are detectable within one sector of TESS data (about 27$\,d$). The timing method requires that we derive pulsation frequencies in subsets of data significantly shorter than the periods we are searching for, which we set at 0.5 to 1.5$\,$d. We investigated ten sdB stars with previously detected p-mode pulsations for which at least one p-mode pulsation remains detectable with a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) $>$ 4 within data subsets of duration 0.5 - 1.5$\,$d. We find that two (TIC$\,$202354658 and TIC$\,$69298924) of these ten sdB stars likely have white dwarf companions and set limits on companion masses for the other eight sdB stars.