Eclipsing binary science via the merging of transit and doppler exoplanet survey data - A case study with the marvels pilot project and SuperWASP

Abstract

Exoplanet transit and Doppler surveys discover many binary stars during their operation that can be used to conduct a variety of ancillary science. Specifically, eclipsing binary stars can be used to study the stellar mass-radius relationship and to test predictions of theoretical stellar evolution models. By cross-referencing 24 binary stars found in the MARVELS Pilot Project with SuperWASP photometry, we find two new eclipsing binaries, TYC 0272-00458-1 and TYC 1422-01328-1, which we use as case studies to develop a general approach to eclipsing binaries in survey data. TYC 0272-00458-1 is a single-lined spectroscopic binary for which we calculate a mass of the secondary and radii for both components using reasonable constraints on the primary mass through several different techniques. For a primary mass of M 1 = 0.92 0.1 M, we find M 2 = 0.610 0.036 M, R 1 = 0.932 0.076 R, and R 2 = 0.559 0.102 R, and find that both stars have masses and radii consistent with model predictions. TYC 1422-01328-1 is a triple-component system for which we can directly measure the masses and radii of the eclipsing pair. We find that the eclipsing pair consists of an evolved primary star (M 1 = 1.163 0.034 M, R 1 = 2.063 0.058 R) and a G-type dwarf secondary (M 2 = 0.905 0.067 M, R 2 = 0.887 0.037 R). We provide the framework necessary to apply this analysis to much larger data sets. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..