J/A+A/649/A64 TESS time of eclipse of 15 eclipsing binaries (Baroch+, 2021)
Analysis of apsidal motion in eclipsing binaries using TESS data.
I. A test of gravitational theories.
Baroch D., Gimenez A., Ribas I., Morales J.C., Anglada-Escude G., Claret A.
<Astron. Astrophys. 649, A64 (2021)>
=2021A&A...649A..64B 2021A&A...649A..64B (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Binaries, eclipsing ; Binaries, orbits
Keywords: binaries: eclipsing - gravitation - relativistic processes -
techniques: photometric
Abstract:
The change in the argument of periastron of eclipsing binaries, that
is, the apsidal motion caused by classical and relativistic effects,
can be measured from variations in the difference between the time of
minimum light of the primary and secondary eclipses. Poor apsidal
motion rate determinations and large uncertainties in the classical
term have hampered previous attempts to determine the general
relativistic term with sufficient precision to test general relativity
predictions.
As a product of the TESS mission, thousands of high-precision light
curves from eclipsing binaries are now available. Using a selection of
suitable well-studied eccentric eclipsing binary systems, we aim to
determine their apsidal motion rates and place constraints on key
gravitational parameters.
We compute the time of minimum light from the TESS light curves of 15
eclipsing binaries with precise absolute parameters and with an
expected general relativistic contribution to the total apsidal motion
rate of greater than 60%. We use the changing primary and secondary
eclipse timing differences over time to compute the apsidal motion
rate, when possible, or the difference between the linear periods as
computed from primary and secondary eclipses. For a greater time
baseline we carefully combine the high-precision TESS timings with
archival reliable timings.
We determine the apsidal motion rate of 9 eclipsing binaries, 5 of
which are reported for the first time. From these, we are able to
measure the general relativistic apsidal motion rate of 6 systems with
sufficient precision to test general relativity for the first time
using this method. This test explores a regime of gravitational forces
and potentials that had not been probed before. We find perfect
agreement with theoretical predictions, and we are able to set
stringent constraints on two parameters of the parametrised
post-Newtonian formalism.
Description:
This table lists the times of eclipse of fifteen eclipsing binaries
with precise absolute parameters.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
stars.dat 37 15 List of studied stars
table3.dat 48 149 TESS times of eclipse
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: stars.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 10 A10 --- Name Name of the system
12- 13 I2 h RAh Simbad Right ascension (J2000)
15- 16 I2 min RAm Simbad Right ascension (J2000)
18- 22 F5.2 s RAs Simbad Right ascension (J2000)
24 A1 --- DE- Simbad Declination sign (J2000)
25- 26 I2 deg DEd Simbad Declination (J2000)
28- 29 I2 arcmin DEm Simbad Declination (J2000)
31- 34 F4.1 arcsec DEs Simbad Declination (J2000)
36- 37 I2 --- N Number of observations in table3.dat
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: table3.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 8 A8 --- Name Name of the system
11- 24 F14.6 d T0 Time of minimum light (BJD)
26- 33 F8.6 d e_T0 Time of minimum light uncertainty
35 I1 --- Type [1/2] Primary (1) or secondary (2) eclipse
38- 42 F5.1 s bis-odd Indicator for first-order distortions in the
eclipse shape
44- 48 F5.1 s bis-even Indicator for second-order distortions in the
eclipse shape
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Acknowledgements:
David Baroch, baroch(at)ice.cat
(End) David Baroch [ICE, CSIC, IEEC Spain], Patricia Vannier [CDS] 09-Mar-2021