A dense 0.1-solar-mass star in a 51-minute-orbital-period eclipsing binary

Kevin B. Burdge (), Kareem El-Badry, Thomas R. Marsh, Saul Rappaport, Warren R. Brown, Ilaria Caiazzo, Deepto Chakrabarty, V. S. Dhillon, Jim Fuller, Boris T. Gänsicke, Matthew J. Graham, Erin Kara, S. R. Kulkarni, S. P. Littlefair, Przemek Mróz, Pablo Rodríguez-Gil, Jan van Roestel, Robert A. Simcoe, Eric C. Bellm, Andrew J. Drake, Richard G. Dekany, Steven L. Groom, Russ R. Laher, Frank J. Masci, Reed Riddle, Roger M. Smith and Thomas A. Prince
Additional contact information
Kevin B. Burdge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kareem El-Badry: Harvard & Smithsonian
Thomas R. Marsh: University of Warwick
Saul Rappaport: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Warren R. Brown: Harvard & Smithsonian
Ilaria Caiazzo: California Institute of Technology
Deepto Chakrabarty: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
V. S. Dhillon: University of Sheffield
Jim Fuller: California Institute of Technology
Boris T. Gänsicke: University of Warwick
Matthew J. Graham: California Institute of Technology
Erin Kara: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S. R. Kulkarni: California Institute of Technology
S. P. Littlefair: University of Sheffield
Przemek Mróz: University of Warsaw
Pablo Rodríguez-Gil: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Jan van Roestel: California Institute of Technology
Robert A. Simcoe: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Eric C. Bellm: University of Washington
Andrew J. Drake: California Institute of Technology
Richard G. Dekany: California Institute of Technology
Steven L. Groom: IPAC, California Institute of Technology
Russ R. Laher: IPAC, California Institute of Technology
Frank J. Masci: IPAC, California Institute of Technology
Reed Riddle: California Institute of Technology
Roger M. Smith: California Institute of Technology
Thomas A. Prince: California Institute of Technology

Nature, 2022, vol. 610, issue 7932, 467-471

Abstract: Abstract Of more than a thousand known cataclysmic variables (CVs), where a white dwarf is accreting from a hydrogen-rich star, only a dozen have orbital periods below 75 minutes1–9. One way to achieve these short periods requires the donor star to have undergone substantial nuclear evolution before interacting with the white dwarf10–14, and it is expected that these objects will transition to helium accretion. These transitional CVs have been proposed as progenitors of helium CVs13–18. However, no known transitional CV is expected to reach an orbital period short enough to account for most of the helium CV population, leaving the role of this evolutionary pathway unclear. Here we report observations of ZTF J1813+4251, a 51-minute-orbital-period, fully eclipsing binary system consisting of a star with a temperature comparable to that of the Sun but a density 100 times greater owing to its helium-rich composition, accreting onto a white dwarf. Phase-resolved spectra, multi-band light curves and the broadband spectral energy distribution allow us to obtain precise and robust constraints on the masses, radii and temperatures of both components. Evolutionary modelling shows that ZTF J1813+4251 is destined to become a helium CV binary, reaching an orbital period under 20 minutes, rendering ZTF J1813+4251 a previously missing link between helium CV binaries and hydrogen-rich CVs.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05195-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:610:y:2022:i:7932:d:10.1038_s41586-022-05195-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05195-x

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().