A quintuple star system containing two eclipsing binaries

Rappaport, S. and Lehmann, H. and Kalomeni, B. and Borkovits, Tamás and Latham, D. and Sódor, Ádám (2016) A quintuple star system containing two eclipsing binaries. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 462 (2). pp. 1812-1825. ISSN 0035-8711

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Abstract

We present a quintuple star system that contains two eclipsing binaries. The unusual architecture includes two stellar images separated by 11′′ on the sky: EPIC 212651213 and EPIC 212651234. The more easterly image (212651213) actually hosts both eclipsing binaries which are resolved within that image at 0.09′′, while the westerly image (212651234) appears to be single in adaptive optics (AO), speckle imaging, and radial velocity (RV) studies. The ‘A’ binary is circular with a 5.1-day period, while the ‘B’ binary is eccentric with a 13.1-day period. The γ velocities of the A and B binaries are different by ∼10 km s−1. That, coupled with their resolved projected separation of 0.09′′, indicates that the orbital period and separation of the ‘C’ binary (consisting of A orbiting B) are ' 65 years and ' 25 AU, respectively, under the simplifying assumption of a circular orbit. Motion within the C orbit should be discernible via future RV, AO, and speckle imaging studies within a couple of years. The C system (i.e., 212651213) has a radial velocity and proper motion that differ from that of 212651234 by only ∼1.4 km s−1 and ∼3 mas yr−1. This set of similar space velocities in 3 dimensions strongly implies that these two objects are also physically bound, making this at least a quintuple star system.

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