Astrometric modeling of unresolved variable binary systems
Authors: K. Sivkova, P. Kervella, A. Gallenne, L. Decin, N. Nardetto, F. Arenou, A. Mérand, N. R. Evans, B. Apostolova, M. C. Bailleul, R. S. Rathour, W. Kiviaho, G. Bras, V. Hocdé, L. Breuval, C. Vert, D. P. González
Abstract
Gaia DR4 will, for the first time, provide epoch astrometry. When analysing these data, binary sources must be treated carefully, as modelling their astrometry as single stars can bias parallax and proper motion estimates. We developed the vimbinary tool, a framework to simulate and interpret epoch astrometry of unresolved binary systems and to evaluate the impact of model assumptions on the resulting astrometric parameters. We simulated Gaia DR4-like epoch astrometry for a sample of 17 well-characterised unresolved binary systems, including both non-pulsating binaries and systems containing one photometric variable component - variability-induced movers (VIMs). We show that both binary motion and the VIM effect can significantly impact parallax and proper motion measurements, with the magnitude of the effect strongly dependent on the orbital period, photocentric amplitude, and flux ratio of the specific system. We also show that larger time coverage does not necessarily improve parallax precision, in contrast to proper motion, for which precision generally improves with longer baselines. Instead, parallaxes retrieved with binary-system fitting are more accurate than those obtained within the single-star framework.
The papers around it, by date and closeness
Higher is closer to this paper; left is older. Lines join papers close to each other: groups of lines are sub-topics. Select a point to see why it is there. Back to the summary of this paper
Papers around this one
Ranked by how close their title and abstract are to this paper’s. Select some to read them together.
Closest papers
-
Estimating distances from parallaxes. VI: A method for inferring distances and transverse velocities from parallaxes and proper motions demonstrated on Gaia Data Release 3C. A. L. Bailer-Jones · 2023 · Astrophysics of Galaxies · cited 11 times · AI summary available
Abstract
The accuracy of stellar distances inferred purely from parallaxes degrades rapidly with distance. Proper motion measurements, when combined with some idea of typical velocities, provide independent information on stellar distances. Here I build a direction- and distance-dependent model of the distribution of stellar velocities in the Galaxy, then use this together with parallaxes and proper motions to infer kinegeometric distances and transverse velocities for stars in Gaia DR3. Using noisy simulations I assess the performance of the method and compare its accuracy to purely parallax-based (geometric) distances. Over the whole Gaia catalogue, kinegeometric distances are on average 1.25 times…
-
Accuracy of inference on the physics of binary evolution from gravitational-wave observationsJim W. Barrett, Sebastian M. Gaebel, Coenraad J. Neijssel et al. · 2017 · MNRAS; 477(4): 4685-4695; 2018 · cited 105 times · AI summary available
Abstract
The properties of the population of merging binary black holes encode some of the uncertain physics of the evolution of massive stars in binaries. The binary black hole merger rate and chirp mass distribution are being measured by ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. We consider isolated binary evolution and explore how accurately the physical model can be constrained with such observations by applying the Fisher information matrix to the merging black hole population simulated with the rapid binary population synthesis code COMPAS. We investigate variations in four COMPAS parameters: common envelope efficiency, kick velocity dispersion, and mass loss rates during the luminous blue var…
-
Extracting Astrophysical Information of Highly-Eccentric Binaries in the Millihertz Gravitational Wave BandZeyuan Xuan, Smadar Naoz, Alvin K. Y. Li et al. · 2024 · High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · cited 1 time · AI summary available
Abstract
Wide, highly eccentric ($e>0.9$) compact binaries can naturally arise as progenitors of gravitational wave (GW) mergers. These systems are expected to have a significant population in the mHz band, with their GW signals characterized by ``repeated bursts" emitted upon each pericenter passage. In this study, we show that the detection of mHz GW signals from highly eccentric stellar mass binaries in the local universe can strongly constrain their orbital parameters. Specifically, it can achieve a relative measurement error of $\sim 10^{-6}$ for orbital frequency and $\sim 1\%$ for eccentricity (as $1-e$) in most of the detectable cases. On the other hand, the binary's mass ratio, distance, and…
-
Observing gravitational waves with solar system astrometryGiorgio Mentasti, Carlo R. Contaldi · 2023 · General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · cited 8 times · AI summary available
Abstract
The subtle influence of gravitational waves on the apparent positioning of celestial bodies offers novel observational windows. We calculate the expected astrometric signal induced by an isotropic Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background (SGWB) in the short distance limit. Our focus is on the resultant proper motion of Solar System objects, a signal on the same time scales addressed by Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTA). We derive the corresponding astrometric deflection patterns, finding that they manifest as distinctive dipole and quadrupole correlations, or in some cases, may not be present. Our analysis encompasses both Einsteinian and non-Einsteinian polarisations. We estimate the upper limits …
-
What are the spectroscopic binaries with high mass functions near the Gaia DR3 main sequence?Kareem El-Badry, Hans-Walter Rix · 2022 · Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · cited 17 times · AI summary available
Abstract
The 3rd data release of the Gaia mission includes orbital solutions for $> 10^5$ single-lined spectroscopic binaries, representing more than an order of magnitude increase in sample size over all previous studies. This dataset is a treasure trove for searches for quiescent black hole + normal star binaries. We investigate one population of black hole candidate binaries highlighted in the data release: sources near the main sequence in the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) with dynamically-inferred companion masses $M_2$ larger than the CMD-inferred mass of the luminous star. We model light curves, spectral energy distributions, and archival spectra of the 14 such objects in DR3 with high-signifi…
-
Nonparametric analysis of correlations in the binary black hole population with LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA dataJack Heinzel, Matthew Mould, Salvatore Vitale · 2024 · Phys. Rev. D 111, L061305 (2025) · cited 15 times · AI summary available
Abstract
Formation channels of merging compact binaries imprint themselves on the distributions and correlations of their source parameters. But current understanding of this population observed in gravitational waves is hindered by simplified parametric models. We overcome these limitations using PixelPop [Heinzel et al. (2024)]-our multidimensional Bayesian nonparametric population model. We analyze data from the first three LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs and make high resolution, minimally modeled measurements of the pairwise distributions of binary black hole masses, redshifts, and spins. There is no evidence that the mass spectrum evolves over redshift and we show that such measurements are fun…
-
Presaging Doppler beaming discoveries of double white dwarfs during the Rubin LSST eraGautham Adamane Pallathadka, Yossef Zenati, Nadia L. Zakamska et al. · 2026 · Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · AI summary available
Abstract
Double white dwarfs (DWDs) are by far the most common compact binaries in the Milky Way, are important low-frequency gravitational-wave sources, and in some cases merge to become Type Ia supernovae. So far, no DWD has been identified solely through relativistic Doppler beaming, even though the beaming amplitude directly relates to the radial velocity semi-amplitude. In this work, we initiate a comprehensive binary population synthesis using SeBa and incorporate the resulting binaries into a tripartite Galaxy model. Our proof-of-concept simulations demonstrate that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) can reliably recover relatively bright ($r \lesssim20~$mag) …
-
Astrometric exoplanet detection with GaiaMichael Perryman, Joel Hartman, Gáspár Bakos et al. · 2014 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · cited 209 times · AI summary available
Abstract
We provide a revised assessment of the number of exoplanets that should be discovered by Gaia astrometry, extending previous studies to a broader range of spectral types, distances, and magnitudes. Our assessment is based on a large representative sample of host stars from the TRILEGAL Galaxy population synthesis model, recent estimates of the exoplanet frequency distributions as a function of stellar type, and detailed simulation of the Gaia observations using the updated instrument performance and scanning law. We use two approaches to estimate detectable planetary systems: one based on the S/N of the astrometric signature per field crossing, easily reproducible and allowing comparisons wi…
Go further
How are these papers found?
We compare the title and abstract of this paper with those of every paper summarized on this site, and with the papers Semantic Scholar recommends, those it cites and those citing it (for a much-cited paper, its most recent citations and, from OpenAlex, the most cited ones). Among the prior work and the follow-ups, the papers that use each other in depth, a method it uses and the much-cited follow-ups come a little higher. The levels (very close, close, related) come from the similarity of the texts, not from a judgment of quality; * marks a paper without an abstract, compared by its title. The sentence under a paper is written by an AI from the two abstracts: check it in the papers. A paper marked not relevant by three readers leaves the list.
Updated on 13 November 2026.