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Discovery of two rotational modulation periods from a young hierarchical triple system

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Abstract

GW Ori is a young hierarchical triple system located in A Orionis, consisting of a binary (GW Ori A and B), a tertiary star (GW Ori C) and a rare circumtriple disk. Due to the limited data with poor accuracy, several short-period signals were detected in this system, but the values from different studies are not fully consistent. As one of the most successful transiting surveys, the transiting exoplanet survey satellite (TESS) provides an unprecedented opportunity to make a comprehensive periodic analysis of GW Ori. In this work we discover two significant modulation signals by analyzing the light curves of GW Ori’s four observations from TESS, i.e., (3.02 ± 0.15) and (1.92 ± 0.06)d, which are very likely to be the rotational periods caused by starspot modulation on the primary and secondary components, respectively. We calculate the inclinations of GW Ori A and B according to the two rotational periods. The results suggest that the rotational plane of GW Ori A and B and the orbital plane of the binary are almost coplanar. We also discuss the aperiodic features in the light curves; these may be related to unstable accretion. The light curves of GW Ori also include a third (possible) modulation signal with a period of (2.51±0.09)d, but the third is neither quite stable nor statistically significant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Astronomy and Space Sciences, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, 443002, China

    Yu-Tao Chen, Hai-Jun Tian, Sarah A. Bird, Di Liu, Xin-Yu Zhu, Peng Zhang, Gao-Chao Liu & Sheng Cui

  2. School of Science, HangZhou Dianzi University, HangZhou, 310018, China

    Hai-Jun Tian

  3. Space Information Research Institute, Hangzhou Dianzi University, HangZhou, 310018, China

    Hai-Jun Tian

  4. School of Physics and Astronomy, China West Normal University, NanChong, 637002, China

    Hai-Jun Tian

  5. Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Min Fang

  6. National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Xiao-Xiong Zuo

  7. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiao-Xiong Zuo

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  1. Yu-Tao Chen
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Correspondence to Hai-Jun Tian or Peng Zhang.

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Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11873034, U2031202, and 12203029), the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province for the Outstanding Youth Fund (Grant No. 2019CFA087), the Cultivation Project for LAMOST Scientific Payoff and Research Achievement of CAMS-CAS, and the science research grants from the China Manned Space Project (Grant No. CMS-CSST-2021-A08) and CSST Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies Survey on Dust and Extinction Project (Grant No. CMS-CSST-2021-A09). Funding for the TESS mission is provided by NASA’s Science Mission directorate. The data supporting this article will be shared upon reasonable request sent to the corresponding author. We thank Feng Wang, Jiao Li, Yang Pan, Jian-Ning Fu, Xiao-Bin Zhang, and Sheng-Hong Gu for helpful discussions.

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Chen, YT., Tian, HJ., Fang, M. et al. Discovery of two rotational modulation periods from a young hierarchical triple system. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 66, 299514 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-023-2151-1

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