Post common envelope binary

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HD 101584 is a suspected post-common envelope binary. The engulfed companion triggered an outflow of gas, creating the nebula seen by ALMA. HD 101584.jpg
HD 101584 is a suspected post-common envelope binary. The engulfed companion triggered an outflow of gas, creating the nebula seen by ALMA.
Key stages in a common envelope phase. Top: A star fills its Roche lobe. Middle: The companion is engulfed; the core and companion spiral towards one another inside a common envelope. Bottom: The envelope is ejected and forms a PCEB or the two stars merge. Common envelope phase - ejection or merger.svg
Key stages in a common envelope phase. Top: A star fills its Roche lobe. Middle: The companion is engulfed; the core and companion spiral towards one another inside a common envelope. Bottom: The envelope is ejected and forms a PCEB or the two stars merge.

A post-common envelope binary (PCEB) or pre-cataclysmic variable is a binary system consisting of a white dwarf or hot subdwarf and a main-sequence star or a brown dwarf. [1] The star or brown dwarf shared a common envelope with the white dwarf progenitor in the red giant phase. In this scenario the star or brown dwarf loses angular momentum as it orbits within the envelope, eventually leaving a main-sequence star and white dwarf in a short-period orbit. A PCEB will continue to lose angular momentum via magnetic braking and gravitational waves and will eventually begin mass-transfer, resulting in a cataclysmic variable. While there are thousands of PCEBs known, there are only a few eclipsing PCEBs, also called ePCEBs. [2] Even more rare are PCEBs with a brown dwarf as the secondary. [1] A brown dwarf with a mass lower than 20 MJ might evaporate during the common envelope phase and therefore the secondary is supposed to have a mass higher than 20 MJ. [3]

Contents

The material ejected from the common envelope forms a planetary nebula. One in five planetary nebulae are ejected from common envelopes, but this might be an underestimate. A planetary nebula formed by a common envelope system usually shows a bipolar structure. [4]

The suspected PCEB HD 101584 is surrounded by a complex nebula. During the common envelope phase the red giant phase of the primary was terminated prematurely, avoiding a stellar merger. The remaining hydrogen envelope of HD 101584 was ejected during the interaction between the red giant and the companion and it now forms the circumstellar medium around the binary. [5]

Many eclipsing post-common envelope binaries show variations in the timing of eclipses, the cause of which is uncertain. While orbiting exoplanets are often proposed as the cause of these variations, planetary models often fail to predict subsequent changes in eclipse timing. Other proposed causes, such as the Applegate mechanism, often cannot fully explain the observed eclipse timing variations either. [6]

List of post-common envelope binaries

Sorted by increasing orbital period.

NamePeriodSecondaryNote
SDSS J1205-0242 71.2 minutes [7] low-mass star or brown dwarfshortest period PCEB (as of 2017)
WD 0137−349 116 minutesbrown dwarffirst confirmed PCEB with a brown dwarf as a companion
CSS21055 121.73 minutes [8] brown dwarfeclipsing binary
SDSS 1557 2.27 hours [9] brown dwarf circumbinary debris disk with a polluted white dwarf
V470 Camelopardalis
(HS0705+6700)		2.3 hours [6] red dwarfeclipsing binary
NY Virginis 2.4 hours [6] red dwarfeclipsing binary
NSVS 14256825 2.6 hours [6] red dwarfeclipsing binary
HW Virginis 2.8 hours [6] red dwarfeclipsing binary
NN Serpentis 3.12 hours [6] red dwarf eclipsing binary
WD 0837+185 4.2 hours [10] brown dwarfextreme mass ratio of the progenitor, with the primary having a mass of 3.5-3.7 M☉ and the secondary 25-30 MJ
RR Caeli 7.3 hours [6] red dwarfeclipsing binary
DE Canum Venaticorum 8.7 hours [6] red dwarfeclipsing binary
central source of Hen 2-11 14.616 hours [11] K-type main sequence star planetary nebula and eclipsing binary
K 1-2 16.2192 hours [12] planetary nebula
central source of Fleming 1 1.1953 days [13] white dwarfplanetary nebula
KOI-256 1.37865 days [2] red dwarfeclipsing binary
central source of NGC 2392 1.9 days [14] hot white dwarfplanetary nebula and x-ray binary
central source of NGC 5189 4.04 days [15] massive white dwarfplanetary nebula; primary is a low-mass Wolf-Rayet star
central source of NGC 2346 16 days [16] >3.5 M☉ sub-giant planetary nebula; one of the longest period PCEB which could host the most massive secondary
HD 101584 150–200 days [5] red dwarf or white dwarfthe engulfment of the companion probably triggered gas to outflow, creating the nebula, seen with Hubble and ALMA; primary is a post-RGB star

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White dwarf</span> Type of stellar remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter

A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's low luminosity comes from the emission of residual thermal energy; no fusion takes place in a white dwarf. The nearest known white dwarf is Sirius B, at 8.6 light years, the smaller component of the Sirius binary star. There are currently thought to be eight white dwarfs among the hundred star systems nearest the Sun. The unusual faintness of white dwarfs was first recognized in 1910. The name white dwarf was coined by Willem Luyten in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GK Persei</span> Star in the constellation Perseus

GK Persei was a bright nova first observed on Earth in 1901. It was discovered by Thomas David Anderson, an Edinburgh clergyman, at 02:40 UT on 22 February 1901 when it was at magnitude 2.7. It reached a maximum magnitude of 0.2, the brightest nova of modern times until Nova Aquilae 1918. After fading into obscurity at about magnitude 12 to 13 during the early 20th century, GK Persei began displaying infrequent outbursts of 2 to 3 magnitudes. Since about 1980, these outbursts have become quite regular, typically lasting about two months and occurring about every three years. Thus, GK Persei seems to have changed from a classical nova like Nova Aquilae 1918 to something resembling a typical dwarf nova-type cataclysmic variable star.

WD 0137-349 is a binary star in the constellation of Sculptor. It is located about 330 light-years away, and appears exceedingly faint with an apparent magnitude of 15.33.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HW Virginis</span> Eclipsing binary star in the constellation Virgo

HW Virginis, abbreviated HW Vir, is an eclipsing binary system, approximately 563 light-years away based on the parallax measured by the Gaia spacecraft, in the constellation of Virgo. The system comprises an eclipsing B-type subdwarf star and red dwarf star. The two stars orbit each other every 0.116795 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circumbinary planet</span> Planet that orbits two stars instead of one

A circumbinary planet is a planet that orbits two stars instead of one. The two stars orbit each other in a binary system, while the planet typically orbits farther from the center of the system than either of the two stars. In contrast, circumstellar planets in a binary system have stable orbits around one of the two stars, closer in than the orbital distance of the other star. Studies in 2013 showed that there is a strong hint that a circumbinary planet and its stars originate from a single disk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NN Serpentis</span> Eclipsing post-common envelope binary star system in the constellation Serpens

NN Serpentis is an eclipsing post-common envelope binary system approximately 1670 light-years away. The system comprises an eclipsing white dwarf and red dwarf. The two stars orbit each other every 0.13 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QS Virginis</span> Eclipsing binary star in the constellation Virgo

QS Virginis is an eclipsing binary system approximately 163 light-years away from the Sun, forming a cataclysmic variable. The system comprises an eclipsing white dwarf and red dwarf that orbit each other every 3.37 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HU Aquarii</span> Star in the constellation Aquarius

HU Aquarii is an eclipsing binary system approximately 620 light-years away from the Sun, forming a cataclysmic variable of AM Herculis-type. The two stars orbit each other every 2.08 hours and the ultra-short binary system includes an eclipsing white dwarf and red dwarf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exocomet</span> Comet outside the Solar System

An exocomet, or extrasolar comet, is a comet outside the Solar System, which includes rogue comets and comets that orbit stars other than the Sun. The first exocomets were detected in 1987 around Beta Pictoris, a very young A-type main-sequence star. There are now a total of 27 stars around which exocomets have been observed or suspected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RR Caeli</span> Double star in the constellation Caelum

RR Caeli is an eclipsing binary star in the constellation Caelum. It is 69 light years from Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V1315 Aquilae</span> Variable star in the constellation Aquila

V1315 Aquilae is a cataclysmic variable star in the north of the equatorial constellation of Aquila. It is in the sub-set of nova-like (NL) variables, specifically a SW Sextantis star. These were characterized as having non-magnetic white dwarfs – thus that do not undergo dwarf-nova bright luminations ("eruptions"). There is countering evidence for some magnetism. Being a SW Sextantis star, V1315 Aquilae has a high rate of mass transfer, so it is in steady-state accretion and in a constant state of outburst. It emits most of its light in the visible range, and this comes from the accretion disk. The eclipse depth is 1.8 mag. No description of the donor star is made.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6778</span> Planetary nebula in the constellation Aquila

NGC 6778 is a planetary nebula (PN) located about 10,300 light years away from the Sun in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. It is positioned 5° to the SSW of the prominent star Delta Aquilae. This nebula was discovered by German astronomer Albert Marth during the period 1863–1865. English astronomer John Herschel may have mistakenly catalogued it as NGC 6785, as nothing can be found now at the coordinates he gave for it. In the New General Catalogue it was described as a "small, elongated, ill-defined disc".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HD 101584</span> Star in the constellation Centaurus

HD 101584 is a suspected post-common envelope binary about 1,800 to 5,900 light-years distant in the constellation of Centaurus. The system is bright at optical wavelengths with an apparent visual magnitude of about 7. The primary is either a post-AGB star, but more likely a post-RGB star. The secondary is a red dwarf or possibly a low-luminosity white dwarf, which orbits the primary every 150-200 days. The system is surrounded by a slowly rotating circumbinary disk, probably with a face-on orientation towards the solar system and a size of about 150 astronomical units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NY Virginis</span> Binary star in the constellation Virgo

NY Virginis is a binary star about 1,940 light-years away. The primary belongs to the rare class of subdwarf B stars, being former red giants with their hydrogen envelope completely stripped by a stellar companion. The companion is a red dwarf star. The binary nature of NY Virginis was first identified in 1998, and the extremely short orbital period of 0.101016 d, together with brightness variability on the timescale of 200 seconds was noticed, resulting in the identification of the primary star as a B-type subdwarf in 2003. Under a proposed classification scheme for hot subdwarfs it would be class sdB1VII:He1. This non-standard system indicates that it is a "normal" luminosity for a hot subdwarf and that the spectrum is dominated by hydrogen rather than helium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abell 63</span> Planetary nebula in the constellation of Sagitta

Abell 63 is a planetary nebula with an eclipsing binary central star system in the northern constellation of Sagitta. Based on parallax measurements of the central star, it is located at a distance of approximately 8,810 light years from the Sun. The systemic radial velocity of the nebula is +41±2 km/s. The nuclear star system is the progenitor of the nebula and it has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 14.67. During mid eclipse the magnitude drops to 19.24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V471 Tauri</span> Variable star in the constellation Taurus

V471 Tauri is a eclipsing variable star in the constellation of Taurus. The star has a visual magnitude of 9 which makes it impossible to see with the naked eye. It is around 155 light-years away from the Solar System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ou 5</span> Planetary nebula in the constellation Cygnus

Ou 5, also known as IPHASXJ211420.0+434136, is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. It was discovered by the IPHAS project in data taken on August 1, 2010, and independently by the French amateur astronomer Nicolas Outters in September 2012. Located two degrees east of the North American Nebula, it is an unusual planetary nebula because its central star is a short period eclipsing binary.

References

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