Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-10-14
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
8 pages, 8 figures, ApJ in press
Scientific paper
We present the first results from SWARMS (Sloan White dwArf Radial velocity data Mining Survey), an ongoing project to identify compact white dwarf (WD) binaries in the spectroscopic catalog of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The first object identified by SWARMS, SDSS 1257+5428, is a single-lined spectroscopic binary in a circular orbit with a period of 4.56 hr and a semiamplitude of 322.7+-6.3 km/s. From the spectrum and photometry, we estimate a WD mass of 0.92(+0.28,-0.32) Msun. Together with the orbital parameters of the binary, this implies that the unseen companion must be more massive than 1.62(+0.20,-0.25) Msun, and is in all likelihood either a neutron star or a black hole. At an estimated distance of 48(+10,-19) pc, this would be the closest known stellar remnant of a supernova explosion.
Badenes Carles
Lupton Robert H.
Mullally Fergal
Thompson Susan E.
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