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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Andrei IgoshevORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Context. Massive stars are extremely influential objects and multiplicity has the potential to dictate how they evolve over time bycausing dynamical interactions, common-envelope evolution, mergers and more. While O-star multiplicity has been studied over abroad separation range (to the point where absolute masses of these systems have been determined and investigations into multiplesystem formation and interactions have been performed), studies of B star multiplicity are lacking despite the fact that they dominatethe production of core-collapse supernovae and neutron stars.Aims. Using interferometry, we aimed to investigate the multiplicity of a statistically significant sample of B stars over a range ofseparations (∼0.5-35 au given the average distance to our sample of 412 pc).Methods. We analyse interferometric data at high-angular resolution taken with PIONIER/VLTI for a sample of 32 B stars. Usingparametric modelling of the closure phases and visibilities, we determine best-fit models to each of the systems and investigatewhether each source is best represented by a single star or a higher-order system. Detection limits were calculated for companions todetermine if they were significant. We then combined our findings from the interferometric data with results from a literature searchto see if other companions were reported at different separation ranges.Results. We find that, within the interferometric range, 72±8% of the B stars are resolved as multiple systems. The most common typeof system is a triple system, followed by binary systems, presumably single stars and then higher-order systems. The interferometriccompanion fraction derived for the sample is 1.88±0.24. When accounting for the spectroscopic companions confirmed in the litera-ture and wide companions inferred from Gaia data in addition to companions we find with interferometry, multiplicity and companionfractions of 0.88±0.06 and 2.31±0.27 respectively are obtained for our sample. The number of triple systems in particular increasessignificantly when accounting for spectroscopic companions, suggesting that binarity and higher-order multiplicity are integral to theevolution of B stars, as they are for O stars.
Author(s): Frost AJ, Sana H, Le Bouquin J-B, Perets HB, Bodensteiner J, Igoshev AP, Banyard G, Mahy L, Merand A, Ramirez-Agudelo OH
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Astronomy & Astrophysics
Year: 2025
Volume: 701
Print publication date: 09/09/2025
Online publication date: 05/08/2025
Acceptance date: 05/06/2025
Date deposited: 01/07/2025
ISSN (print): 0004-6361
ISSN (electronic): 1432-0746
Publisher: EDP Sciences
URL: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202554344
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202554344
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/xe04-tz81
Data Access Statement: The observational data, model fits and error calculations associated with the results found in this paper can be found at this Zenodo directory (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15764971).
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