Bibcode
Pyrzas, S.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Brady, S.; Parsons, S. G.; Marsh, T. R.; Koester, D.; Breedt, E.; Copperwheat, C. M.; Nebot Gómez-Morán, A.; Rebassa-Mansergas, A.; Schreiber, M. R.; Zorotovic, M.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 419, Issue 1, pp. 817-826.
Advertised on:
1
2012
Citations
62
Refereed citations
60
Description
We identify SDSS J121010.1+334722.9 as an eclipsing post-common-envelope
binary, with an orbital period of ?, containing a very cool, low-mass,
DAZ white dwarf and a low-mass main-sequence star of spectral type M5. A
model atmosphere analysis of the metal absorption lines detected in the
blue part of the optical spectrum, along with the Galaxy Evolution
Explorer near-ultraviolet flux, yields a white dwarf temperature of ? K
and a metallicity value of log [Z/H] =-2.0 ± 0.3. The Na I
λλ8183.27, 8194.81 absorption doublet is used to measure
the radial velocity of the secondary star, ?, and Fe I absorption lines
in the blue part of the spectrum provide the radial velocity of the
white dwarf, ?, yielding a mass ratio of q = 0.379 ± 0.009.
Light-curve model fitting, using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method,
gives the inclination angle as i = (79?05-79?36) ± 0?15, and the
stellar masses as ? and ?. Systematic uncertainties in the absolute
calibration of the photometric data influence the determination of the
stellar radii. The radius of the white dwarf is found to be ? and the
volume-averaged radius of the tidally distorted secondary is ?. The
white dwarf in SDSS J121010.1+334722.9 is a very strong He-core
candidate.