Abstract
This study presents a simplified method to identify potential bright red nova progenitors based on the amplitude of the light curve and infrared (J–H) colour of a contact binary system. We employ published criteria for contact binary orbital instability to show that the amplitude of the light curve for a given contact system with a low mass (\({<}1.4\ M_{\odot }\)) primary must be less than a specified value for it to be potentially unstable. Using this, we search the photometric data of a large survey to identify about 50 potential bright red nova progenitors. We analyse each of the survey photometry to determine the mass ratio and from the estimated mass of the primary, other physical parameters of the systems. We show that each system has physical characteristics indicating potential orbital instability. Using the absolute parameters from our sample, we model the expected instability separation and period for low mass contact binary systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aigrain S., Hodgkin S. T., Irwin M. J., Lewis J. R., Roberts S. J. 2015, MNRAS, 447, 2880
Arbutina B. 2007, MNRAS, 377, 1635
Arbutina B. 2009, MNRAS, 394, 501
Awadalla N. S., Hanna M. A. 2005, Journal of Korean Astronomical Society, 38, 43
Brown N. J., Waagen E. O., Scovil C., et al. 2002, iaucirc, 7785, 1
Christopoulou P.-E., Lalounta E., Papageorgiou A., et al. 2022, MNRAS, arXiv:2202.12835
Devarapalli S. P., Jagirdar R., Prasad R. M., et al. 2020, MNRAS, 493, 1565
Drake A. J., Djorgovski S. G., Catelan M., et al. 2017, MNRAS, 469, 3688
Eggleton P. P. 2012, Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences, 29, 145
Gazeas K. D., Loukaidou G. A., Niarchos P. G., et al. 2021, MNRAS, 502, 2879
Handberg R., Lund M. N., White T. R., et al. 2021, AJ, 162, 170
Huang C. X., Vanderburg A., Pál A., et al. 2020, RNAAS, 4, 204
Jayasinghe T., Stanek K. Z., Kochanek C. S., et al. 2020, MNRAS, 491, 13
Kandulapati S., Devarapalli S. P., Pasagada V. R. 2015, MNRAS, 446, 510
Kjurkchieva D. P., Popov V. A., Petrov N. I. 2018, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 18, 129
Kjurkchieva D. P., Popov V. A., Petrov N. I. 2020, New Astronomy, 77, 101352
Kobulnicky H. A., Molnar L. A., Cook E. M., Henderson L. E. 2022, arXiv e-printsarXiv:2202.01187
Kochanek C. S., Adams S. M., Belczynski K. 2014, MNRAS, 443, 1319
Latković O., Čeki A., Lazarević S. 2021, ApJS, 254, 10
Li K., Xia Q.-Q., Kim C.-H., et al. 2021, ApJ, 922, 122
Liu L., Qian S.-B., Soonthornthum B., et al. 2015, PASJ, 67, 74
Lucy L. B. 1967, ZAp, 65, 89
Martini P., Wagner R. M., Tomaney A., et al. 1999, AJ, 118, 1034
Nelson R. H. 2021, New Astron, 86, 101565
Nelson R. H., Robb R. M. 2015, Information Bulletin on Variable Stars, 6134, 1
Pastorello A., Mason E., Taubenberger S., et al. 2019, AAP, 630, A75
Pecaut M. J., Mamajek E. E. 2013, ApJS, 208, 9
Pojmanski G. 2002, Acta Astronomica, 52, 397
Pollacco D. L., Skillen I., Collier Cameron A., et al. 2006, PASP, 118, 1407
Popov V., Acerbi F., Barani C. 2021, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 21, 225
Rasio F. A. 1995, ApJl, 444, L41
Ricker G. R., Winn J. N., Vanderspek R., et al. 2015, Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 1, 014003
Robertson J. A., Eggleton P. P. 1977, MNRAS, 179, 359
Rucinski S. 1969, Postepy Astronomii Krakow, 17, 163
Rucinski S. M. 1993, PASP, 105, 1433
Rucinski S. M. 2001, AJ, 122, 1007
Shappee B. J., Prieto J. L., Grupe D., et al. 2014, ApJ, 788, 48
Soker N., Tylenda R. 2003, ApJl, 582, L105
Sriram K., Malu S., Choi C. S., Vivekananda Rao P. 2016, AJ, 151, 69
Stȩpień K. 2011, AAP, 531, A18
Sun W., Chen X., Deng L., de Grijs R. 2020, ApJS, 247, 50
Terrell D., Wilson R. E. 2005, Ap &SS, 296, 221
Tylenda R., Hajduk M., Kamiński T., et al. 2011, A &A, 528, A114
Tylenda R., Kamiński T., Udalski A., et al. 2013, AAP, 555, A16
Van Cleve J. E., Caldwell D. A., Jenkins J. M., et al. 2010, in American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts, Vol. 215, American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215, 420.02
van Hamme W. 1993, AJ, 106, 2096
Wadhwa S. S., De Horta A., Filipović M. D., et al. 2021, MNRAS, 501, 229
Wadhwa S. S., De Horta A. Y., Filipovic M. D., Tothill N. F. H. 2022, arXiv e-prints, arXiv:2202.09120
Yildiz M., Doğan T. 2013, MNRAS, 430, 2029
Zhou X., Soonthornthum B. 2019, PASJ, 71, 39
Zola S., Rucinski S. M., Baran A., et al. 2004, AcA, 54, 299
Acknowledgements
Based on data acquired on the Western Sydney University, Penrith Observatory Telescope, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which the Observatory stands, the Dharug people, and pay our respects to elders past and present. BA acknowledges the financial support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia through the Contract No. 451-03-68/2022-14/200104. During work on this paper, Djurasevic and Petrovic were financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia through Contract No. 451-03-9/2021-14/200002. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wadhwa, S.S., De Horta, A.Y., Filipović, M.D. et al. Simplified method for the identification of low mass ratio contact binary systems that are potential red nova progenitors. J Astrophys Astron 43, 94 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12036-022-09888-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12036-022-09888-7