Search and characterization of third bodies around binary systems using data from Kepler and TESS satellites
Binary system; Third body; Exoplanet; Orbital Period
The study of orbital period variation of short-period binary systems (<10 days) has been important to understand several physical phenomena, e.g., gravitational wave emission, angular momentum loss via magnetic braking, matter transfer between components, apsidal motion, variation of the quadrupole moment, and presence of circumbinary bodies. In the latter scenario, the additional body can be a planet and is therefore crucial to understanding how these objects are formed and how they evolve around two parent stars.
With the advent of large space missions, e.g., CoRoT (COnvection, ROtation and planetary Transits), Kepler, and TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), a huge amount of high-precision photometric data with temporal coverage from years to decades has been made available to the international astronomical community. Due to the large temporal coverage, data from binary systems have become invaluable sources for investigating long-term physical phenomena. Thus, in this project, we propose to study the variation in the orbital period of a sample of 240 systems that was observed by the Kepler and TESS satellites and therefore with a temporal coverage of more than 10 years. The main objective of this project will be the search and characterization of third bodies, be they stars, brown dwarfs, or exoplanets. However, all phenomena that generate the variation of the orbital period of the binary system will be investigated. From the sample of 240 targets, we have already obtained the orbital period variation for 21 systems and 1 with the complete characterization of the third body.