Orbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous Donor
We report the discovery of ZTF J0127+5258, a compact mass-transferring binary with an orbital period of 13.7 minutes. The system contains a white dwarf accretor, which likely originated as a post–common envelope carbon–oxygen (CO) white dwarf, and a warm donor ( T _eff,donor = 16,400 ± 1000 K). The...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace7cf |
| _version_ | 1797694057744433152 |
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| author | Kevin B. Burdge Kareem El-Badry Saul Rappaport Tin Long Sunny Wong Evan B. Bauer Lars Bildsten Ilaria Caiazzo Deepto Chakrabarty Emma Chickles Matthew J. Graham Erin Kara S. R. Kulkarni Thomas R. Marsh Melania Nynka Thomas A. Prince Robert A. Simcoe Jan van Roestel Zach Vanderbosch Eric C. Bellm Richard G. Dekany Andrew J. Drake George Helou Frank J. Masci Jennifer Milburn Reed Riddle Ben Rusholme Roger Smith |
| author_facet | Kevin B. Burdge Kareem El-Badry Saul Rappaport Tin Long Sunny Wong Evan B. Bauer Lars Bildsten Ilaria Caiazzo Deepto Chakrabarty Emma Chickles Matthew J. Graham Erin Kara S. R. Kulkarni Thomas R. Marsh Melania Nynka Thomas A. Prince Robert A. Simcoe Jan van Roestel Zach Vanderbosch Eric C. Bellm Richard G. Dekany Andrew J. Drake George Helou Frank J. Masci Jennifer Milburn Reed Riddle Ben Rusholme Roger Smith |
| author_sort | Kevin B. Burdge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We report the discovery of ZTF J0127+5258, a compact mass-transferring binary with an orbital period of 13.7 minutes. The system contains a white dwarf accretor, which likely originated as a post–common envelope carbon–oxygen (CO) white dwarf, and a warm donor ( T _eff,donor = 16,400 ± 1000 K). The donor probably formed during a common envelope phase between the CO white dwarf and an evolving giant that left behind a helium star or white dwarf in a close orbit with the CO white dwarf. We measure gravitational wave–driven orbital inspiral with ∼51 σ significance, which yields a joint constraint on the component masses and mass transfer rate. While the accretion disk in the system is dominated by ionized helium emission, the donor exhibits a mixture of hydrogen and helium absorption lines. Phase-resolved spectroscopy yields a donor radial velocity semiamplitude of 771 ± 27 km s ^−1 , and high-speed photometry reveals that the system is eclipsing. We detect a Chandra X-ray counterpart with L _X ∼ 3 × 10 ^31 erg s ^−1 . Depending on the mass transfer rate, the system will likely either evolve into a stably mass-transferring helium cataclysmic variable, merge to become an R CrB star, or explode as a Type Ia supernova in the next million years. We predict that the Laser Space Interferometer Antenna (LISA) will detect the source with a signal-to-noise ratio of 24 ± 6 after 4 yr of observations. The system is the first LISA-loud mass-transferring binary with an intrinsically luminous donor, a class of sources that provide the opportunity to leverage the synergy between optical and infrared time domain surveys, X-ray facilities, and gravitational-wave observatories to probe general relativity, accretion physics, and binary evolution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:52:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ace38e716fd44f759b9684510b6f4082 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:52:29Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-ace38e716fd44f759b9684510b6f40822023-09-03T15:30:40ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019531L110.3847/2041-8213/ace7cfOrbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous DonorKevin B. Burdge0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7226-836XKareem El-Badry1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6871-1752Saul Rappaport2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3182-5569Tin Long Sunny Wong3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9195-7390Evan B. Bauer4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4791-6724Lars Bildsten5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8038-6836Ilaria Caiazzo6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4770-5388Deepto Chakrabarty7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-8946Emma Chickles8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4780-4105Matthew J. Graham9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3168-0139Erin Kara10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0172-0854S. R. Kulkarni11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5390-8563Thomas R. Marsh12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2498-7589Melania Nynka13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3310-1946Thomas A. Prince14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8850-3627Robert A. Simcoe15https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-9559Jan van Roestel16https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2626-2872Zach Vanderbosch17https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0853-3464Eric C. Bellm18https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8018-5348Richard G. Dekany19https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5884-7867Andrew J. Drake20https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0228-6594George Helou21https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3367-3415Frank J. Masci22https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8532-9395Jennifer Milburn23Reed Riddle24https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0387-370XBen Rusholme25https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7648-4142Roger Smith26https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7062-9726Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; kburdge@mit.edu; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USACenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Harvard Society of Fellows, 78 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyDepartment of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; kburdge@mit.edu; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USADepartment of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USACenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USADepartment of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA; Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USADivision of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USADepartment of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; kburdge@mit.edu; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USADepartment of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; kburdge@mit.edu; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USADivision of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USADepartment of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; kburdge@mit.edu; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USADivision of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USADepartment of Physics, University of Warwick , Coventry CV4 7AL, UKKavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USADivision of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USADepartment of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; kburdge@mit.edu; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USADivision of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam , 1090 GE Amsterdam, NL, The NetherlandsDivision of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USADIRAC Institute, Department of Astronomy, University of Washington , 3910 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98195, USACaltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA, USADivision of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USAIPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USAIPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USACaltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA, USACaltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA, USAIPAC, California Institute of Technology , 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USACaltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA, USAWe report the discovery of ZTF J0127+5258, a compact mass-transferring binary with an orbital period of 13.7 minutes. The system contains a white dwarf accretor, which likely originated as a post–common envelope carbon–oxygen (CO) white dwarf, and a warm donor ( T _eff,donor = 16,400 ± 1000 K). The donor probably formed during a common envelope phase between the CO white dwarf and an evolving giant that left behind a helium star or white dwarf in a close orbit with the CO white dwarf. We measure gravitational wave–driven orbital inspiral with ∼51 σ significance, which yields a joint constraint on the component masses and mass transfer rate. While the accretion disk in the system is dominated by ionized helium emission, the donor exhibits a mixture of hydrogen and helium absorption lines. Phase-resolved spectroscopy yields a donor radial velocity semiamplitude of 771 ± 27 km s ^−1 , and high-speed photometry reveals that the system is eclipsing. We detect a Chandra X-ray counterpart with L _X ∼ 3 × 10 ^31 erg s ^−1 . Depending on the mass transfer rate, the system will likely either evolve into a stably mass-transferring helium cataclysmic variable, merge to become an R CrB star, or explode as a Type Ia supernova in the next million years. We predict that the Laser Space Interferometer Antenna (LISA) will detect the source with a signal-to-noise ratio of 24 ± 6 after 4 yr of observations. The system is the first LISA-loud mass-transferring binary with an intrinsically luminous donor, a class of sources that provide the opportunity to leverage the synergy between optical and infrared time domain surveys, X-ray facilities, and gravitational-wave observatories to probe general relativity, accretion physics, and binary evolution.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace7cfClose binary starsEclipsing binary starsGravitational wave sourcesX-ray binary stars |
| spellingShingle | Kevin B. Burdge Kareem El-Badry Saul Rappaport Tin Long Sunny Wong Evan B. Bauer Lars Bildsten Ilaria Caiazzo Deepto Chakrabarty Emma Chickles Matthew J. Graham Erin Kara S. R. Kulkarni Thomas R. Marsh Melania Nynka Thomas A. Prince Robert A. Simcoe Jan van Roestel Zach Vanderbosch Eric C. Bellm Richard G. Dekany Andrew J. Drake George Helou Frank J. Masci Jennifer Milburn Reed Riddle Ben Rusholme Roger Smith Orbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous Donor The Astrophysical Journal Letters Close binary stars Eclipsing binary stars Gravitational wave sources X-ray binary stars |
| title | Orbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous Donor |
| title_full | Orbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous Donor |
| title_fullStr | Orbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous Donor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Orbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous Donor |
| title_short | Orbital Decay in an Accreting and Eclipsing 13.7 Minute Orbital Period Binary with a Luminous Donor |
| title_sort | orbital decay in an accreting and eclipsing 13 7 minute orbital period binary with a luminous donor |
| topic | Close binary stars Eclipsing binary stars Gravitational wave sources X-ray binary stars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace7cf |
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