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A detached double degenerate with a 1.4-h orbital period
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Moran, C., Marsh, T. R. and Bragaglia, A. (1997) A detached double degenerate with a 1.4-h orbital period. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 288 (2). pp. 538-544. doi:10.1093/mnras/288.2.538 ISSN 0035-8711.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/288.2.538
Abstract
We have discovered that the detached double degenerate binary WD 0957-666 has an orbital period of 1.46h, rather than the 1.15-d orbital period reported earlier. This is the shortest period example of such a system yet discovered. We obtain a unique period, which fits both our data and earlier data. At this period the emission of gravitational radiation will cause the binary to merge within approximately 2.0x10^8yr. This system represents a population of short orbital period binaries which will merge within a Hubble time, and so could account for type Ia supernovae, although, due to the low mass of both stars (0.3 to 0.4 Msolar), it is unlikely to become a supernova itself. We have detected the companion star and have measured a mass ratio of q=1.15+/-0.10. This is the third double degenerate for which q has been measured, and all three have q~=1, which is in conflict with the predicted mass ratio distribution, which peaks at 0.7. This system is viewed close to edge-on, and we estimate that the probability of this system undergoing eclipses is 15 per cent.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Wiley | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0035-8711 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | 21 June 1997 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 288 | ||||||||
| Number: | 2 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 538-544 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/288.2.538 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||
| Adapted As: | |||||||||
| Open Access Version: |
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