The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: Nine new double-line spectroscopic binary stars

Abstract

Context. The CARMENES spectrograph is surveying ∼300 M dwarf stars in search for exoplanets. Among the target stars, spectroscopic binary systems have been discovered, which can be used to measure fundamental properties of stars. Aims. Using spectroscopic observations, we determine the orbital and physical properties of nine new double-line spectroscopic binary systems by analysing their radial velocity curves. Methods. We use two-dimensional cross-correlation techniques to derive the radial velocities of the targets, which are then employed to determine the orbital properties. Photometric data from the literature are also analysed to search for possible eclipses and to measure stellar variability, which can yield rotation periods. Results. Out of the 342 stars selected for the CARMENES survey, 9 have been found to be double-line spectroscopic binaries, with periods ranging from 1.13 to ∼8000 days and orbits with eccentricities up to 0.54. We provide empirical orbital properties and minimum masses for the sample of spectroscopic binaries. Absolute masses are also estimated from mass-luminosity calibrations, ranging between ∼0.1 and ∼0.6 M. Conclusions. These new binary systems increase the number of double-line M dwarf binary systems with known orbital parameters by 15%, and they have lower mass ratios on average. © ESO 2018. ; CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Landessternwarte Königstuhl, Institut de Ciències de l'Espai, Insi-tut für Astrophysik Göttingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiología and and funded by the DepartmeCentro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 "Blue Planets around Red Stars", the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Württemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucía. We acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) through grants ESP2013-48391-C4-1-R, ESP2014-57495-C2-2-R and AYA2015-69350-C3-2-P, AYA2016-79425–C3–1/2/3–P, ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, as well as the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme. We also acknowledge support from the Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca of the Generalitat de Catalunya through grant 2018 FI_B_00188. This work makes use of data from the HARPS-N Project, a collaboration between the Astronomical Observatory of the Geneva University (lead), the CfA in Cambridge, the Universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, the Queens University of Belfast, and the TNG-INAF Observatory; from the public release of the WASP data as provided by the WASP consortium and services at the NASA Exoplanet Archive, which is operated by the California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the Exoplanet Exploration Program; from the MEarth Project, which is a collaboration between Harvard University and the Smith-sonian Astrophysical Observatory; and from the Northern Sky Variability Survey created jointly by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and University of Michigannt of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. ; Peer Reviewed