2008/01/29 by A. C. Becker, E. Agol, Eric Agol +35
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Binary number #Low Mass #Monte Carlo method #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Point source #RADIUS #Radial velocity #Sky #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13040.x
published as Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.386:416-424,2008 · 8 figures and 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS
arxiv created 2008/01/29 · openalex publication_date 2008/03/11 · arxiv updated 2010/04/29 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We report on Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) J01542930+0053266, a faint eclipsing system composed of two M dwarfs. The variability of this system was originally discovered during a pilot study of the 2MASS Calibration Point Source Working Data base. Additional photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey yields an eight-passband light curve from which we derive an orbital period of 2.639 0157 ± 0.000 0016 d. Spectroscopic followup confirms our photometric classification of the system, which is likely composed of M0 and M1 dwarfs. Radial velocity measurements allow us to derive the masses (M1= 0.66 ± 0.03 M⊙; M2= 0.62 ± 0.03 M⊙) and radii (R1= 0.64 ± 0.08 R⊙; R2= 0.61 ± 0.09 R⊙) of the components, which are consistent with empirical mass–radius relationships for low-mass stars in binary systems. We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the light curves which allow us to uncover complicated degeneracies between the system parameters. Both stars show evidence of Hα emission, something not common in early-type M dwarfs. This suggests that binarity may influence the magnetic activity properties of low-mass stars; activity in the binary may persist long after the dynamos in their isolated counterparts have decayed, yielding a new potential foreground of flaring activity for next generation variability surveys.