Wide binaries eccentricities with Gaia EDR3 Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Hwang H.-C.
  2. Ting Y.-S.
  3. Zakamska N.L.
  4. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

Eccentricity of wide binaries is difficult to measure due to their long orbital periods. With Gaia's high-precision astrometric measurements, eccentricity of a wide binary can be constrained by the angle between the separation vector and the relative velocity vector (the v-r angle). In this paper, by using the v-r angles of wide binaries in Gaia Early Data Release 3, we develop a Bayesian approach to measure the eccentricity distribution as a function of binary separations. Furthermore, we infer the eccentricities of individual wide binaries and make them publicly available. Our results show that the eccentricity distribution of wide binaries at 102 AU is close to uniform and becomes superthermal at >103 AU, suggesting two formation mechanisms dominating at different separation regimes. The close binary formation, most likely disc fragmentation, results in a uniform eccentricity distribution at <102 AU. The wide binary formation that leads to highly eccentric wide binaries at >103 AU may be turbulent fragmentation and/or the dynamical unfolding of compact triples. With Gaia, measuring eccentricities is now possible for a large number of wide binaries, opening a new window to understanding binary formation and evolution.

Keywords
  1. multiple-stars
  2. orbits
  3. astrometry
  4. proper-motions
  5. stellar-distance
  6. visible-astronomy
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2022MNRAS.512.3383H
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/512/3383
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/512/3383
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.75123383

Access

Web browser access HTML
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/512/3383
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/512/3383
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/512/3383
IVOA Table Access TAP
https://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/512/3383/table2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/512/3383/table2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/512/3383/table2?

History

2025-03-28T12:59:47Z
Resource record created
2025-03-28T12:59:47Z
Created
2025-05-06T20:14:13Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr