DETECTION OF WHITE DWARF COMPANIONS TO BLUE STRAGGLERS IN THE OPEN CLUSTER NGC 188: DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR RECENT MASS TRANSFER
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 475 N. Charter St., Madison, WI 53706 (United States)
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1 (Canada)
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, CCIS 4-183, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1 (Canada)
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 IBJ (United Kingdom)
Several possible formation pathways for blue straggler stars have been developed recently, but no one pathway has yet been observationally confirmed for a specific blue straggler. Here we report the first findings from a Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys/Solar Blind Channel far-UV photometric program to search for white dwarf companions to blue straggler stars. We find three hot and young white dwarf companions to blue straggler stars in the 7 Gyr open cluster NGC 188, indicating that mass transfer in these systems ended less than 300 Myr ago. These companions are direct and secure observational evidence that these blue straggler stars were formed through mass transfer in binary stars. Their existence in a well-studied cluster environment allows for observational constraints of both the current binary system and the progenitor binary system, mapping the entire mass transfer history.
- OSTI ID:
- 22363963
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 783, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FORMATION OF BLUE STRAGGLER STARS FROM HST ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS OF NGC 188
A HOT COMPANION TO A BLUE STRAGGLER IN NGC 188 AS REVEALED BY THE ULTRA-VIOLET IMAGING TELESCOPE (UVIT) ON ASTROSAT