The ESO supernovae type Ia progenitor survey (SPY)

Abstract

Close double degenerate binaries are one of the favoured progenitor channels for type Ia supernovae, but it is unclear how many suitable systems there are in the Galaxy. We report results of a large radial velocity survey for double degenerate (DD) binaries using the UVES spectrograph at the ESO VLT (ESO SN Ia Progenitor surveY - SPY). Exposures taken at different epochs are checked for radial velocity shifts indicating close binary systems. We observed 689 targets classified as DA (displaying hydrogen-rich atmospheres), of which 46 turned out to possess a cool companion. We measured radial velocities (RV) of the remaining 643 DA white dwarfs. We managed to secure observations at two or more epochs for 625 targets, supplemented by eleven objects meeting our selection criteria from literature. The data reduction and analysis methods applied to the survey data are described in detail. The sample contains 39 double degenerate binaries, only four of which were previously known. 20 are double-lined systems, in which features from both components are visible, the other 19 are single-lined binaries. We provide absolute RVs transformed to the heliocentric system suitable for kinematic studies. Our sample is large enough to sub-divide by mass: 16 out of 44 low mass targets (<= 0.45 Msun) are detected as DDs, while just 23 of the remaining 567 with multiple spectra and mass >0.45 Msun are double. Although the detected fraction amongst the low mass objects (36.4 +/- 7.3%) is significantly higher than for the higher-mass, carbon/oxygen-core dominated part of the sample (3.9 +/- 0.8%), it is lower than the detection efficiency based upon companion star masses >= 0.05 Msun. This suggests either companion stars of mass < 0.05 Msun, or that some of the low mass white dwarfs are single.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in A&A. 59 pages. Think before you print: large tables in the appendix

References in corpus (82)

• Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant
• Measurements of Omega and Lambda from 42 High-Redshift Supernovae
• Gaia Data Release 2. Summary of the contents and survey properties
• Observational clues to the progenitors of Type-Ia supernovae
• Automated data reduction workflows for astronomy
• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
• Ultraviolet Radiation from Evolved Stellar Populations -- I. Models
• A $Gaia$ Data Release 2 catalogue of white dwarfs and a comparison with SDSS
• Population synthesis for double white dwarfs I.Close detached systems
• Detonations in Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass C+O White Dwarfs
• Hot subluminous stars
• A Spectroscopic Survey & Analysis of Bright, Hydrogen-Rich White Dwarfs
• White Dwarf Mass Distribution in the SDSS
• Mass Transfer between Double White Dwarfs
• Population synthesis for double white dwarfs. II. Semi-detached systems: AM CVn stars
• New cooling sequences for old white dwarfs
• Know Your Neighborhood: A Detailed Model Atmosphere Analysis of Nearby White Dwarfs
• The ELM Survey. I. A Complete Sample of Extremely Low Mass White Dwarfs
• The Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae
• On the Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae
• The structure and fate of white dwarf merger remnants
• High-resolution UVES/VLT spectra of white dwarfs observed for the ESO SN Ia Progenitor Survey. III. DA white dwarfs
• Survival of a brown dwarf after engulfment by a red giant star
• The Extremes of Thermonuclear Supernovae
• Hot subdwarfs from the ESO Supernova Ia Progenitor Survey: II. Atmospheric parameters of subdwarf O stars
• Type Ia supernova bolometric light curves and ejected mass estimates from the Nearby Supernova Factory
• 3D kinematics of white dwarfs from the SPY project II
• A Comparative Study of the Mass Distribution of Extreme Ultraviolet-Selected White Dwarfs
• Hot subdwarfs from the ESO Supernova Ia Progenitor Survey - I. Atmospheric parameters and cool companions of sdB stars
• Search for progenitors of supnernovae type Ia with SPY
• Hot subdwarf binaries from the MUCHFUSS project - Analysis of 12 new systems and a study of the short-period binary population
• The ELM Survey. VII. Orbital Properties of Low Mass White Dwarf Binaries
• Grids of white dwarf evolutionary models with masses from M= 0.1 to 1.2 Ms
• On type Ia supernovae and the formation of single low-mass white dwarfs
• The ELM Survey. IV. 24 White Dwarf Merger Systems
• Close Binary White Dwarf Systems: Numerous New Detections and Their Interpretation
• Binaries discovered by the SPY project. IV. Five single-lined DA double white dwarfs
• Discovery of kilogauss magnetic fields in three DA white dwarfs
• The ELM Survey. V. Merging Massive White Dwarf Binaries
• The separation distribution and merger rate of double white dwarfs: improved constraints
• The stellar content of the Hamburg/ESO survey. I. Automated selection of DA white dwarfs
• The fraction of double degenerates among DA white dwarfs
• 3D kinematics of white dwarfs from the SPY project
• Radial velocity measurements of white dwarfs
• Mass-radius relations for massive white dwarf stars
• The ELM Survey. III. A Successful Targeted Survey for Extremely Low Mass White Dwarfs
• Numerical Simulations of the Onset and Stability of Dynamical Mass Transfer in Binaries
• The Discovery of a Short Period Double-Degenerate Binary Star
• On the incidence of weak magnetic fields in DA white dwarfs
• Most Double Degenerate Low Mass White Dwarf Binaries Merge
• A detached double degenerate with a 1.4 hr orbital period
• Six detached white-dwarf close binaries
• The triple degenerate star WD1704+481
• Single degenerate supernova type Ia progenitors
• Two white dwarfs in ultrashort binaries with detached, eclipsing, likely substellar companions detected by K2
• Binaries discovered by the SPY project I. HE 1047-0436: a subdwarf B + white dwarf system
• New approaches to SNe Ia progenitors
• Binaries discovered by the SPY project. II. HE 1414-0848: a double degenerate with a mass close to the Chandrasekhar limit
• A study of high proper-motion white dwarfs I. Spectropolarimetry of a cool hydrogen-rich sample
• A near-IR spectroscopic search for very-low-mass cool companions to notable DA white dwarfs
• The critical mass ratio of double white dwarf binaries for violent merger-induced Type Ia supernova explosions
• Where are the double-degenerate progenitors of type Ia supernovae?
• The (Double) White Dwarf Binary SDSS 1257+5428
• Cool Customers in the Stellar Graveyard II: Limits to Substellar Objects Around Nearby DAZ White Dwarfs
• Detached white-dwarf close-binary stars -- CV's extended family
• Pure-hydrogen 3D model atmospheres of cool white dwarfs
• Cool Companions to White Dwarf Stars from the Two Micron All Sky Survey All Sky Data Release
• White Dwarf Kinematics vs Mass
• PG1115+166 - a long period DA+DB binary
• Detection of a white dwarf companion to the white dwarf SDSSJ125733.63+542850.5
• Binaries discovered by the SPY project. III. HE2209-1444: a massive, short period double degenerate
• Models for Type Ia supernovae and related astrophysical transients
• Using large spectroscopic surveys to test the double degenerate model for Type Ia supernovae
• Evolution of the number of accreting white dwarfs with shell nuclear burning and of occurrence rate of SN Ia
• The origin of single low-mass WDs: another problem that consequential angular momentum loss in CVs might solve
• The galactic population of white dwarfs
• Searching for giga-Jansky fast radio bursts from the Milky Way with a global array of low-cost radio receivers
• A NLTE analysis of the hot subdwarf O star BD+28 4211. II. The optical spectrum
• Orbital periods and component masses of three double white dwarfs
• Pressure Shift and Gravitational Red Shift of Balmer Lines in White Dwarfs. Rediscussion
• Spectroscopic Analysis of the DAB White Dwarf PG 1115+166: An Unresolved DA + DB Degenerate Binary
• Mass transfer dynamics in double degenerate binary systems

Cited by in corpus (61)

• Gaia Data Release 3: Stellar multiplicity, a teaser for the hidden treasure
• Type Ia Supernova Explosions in Binary Systems: A Review
• Properties of OB star-black hole systems derived from detailed binary evolution models
• Lunar Gravitational-Wave Antenna
• Observationally driven Galactic double white dwarf population for LISA
• The 40 pc sample of white dwarfs from Gaia
• New insight into the magnetism of degenerate stars from the analysis of a volume limited sample of white dwarfs
• A hot subdwarf-white dwarf super-Chandrasekhar candidate supernova Ia progenitor
• Multiple channels for the onset of magnetism in isolated white dwarfs
• An 8.8 minute orbital period eclipsing detached double white dwarf binary
• A Catalogue of Potential Post Common Envelope Binaries
• The Merger Fraction of Ultramassive White Dwarfs
• The Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna: Mission Studies and Science Case
• Towards a volumetric census of close white dwarf binaries I.Reference samples
• Gravitational Waves from Double White Dwarfs as probes of the Milky Way
• Reconstructing the Pleiades with Gaia EDR3
• Radial velocity variability and evolution of hot subdwarf stars
• Kinematic properties of white dwarfs. Galactic orbital parameters and age-velocity dispersion relation
• wdwarfdate: A Python Package to Derive Bayesian Ages of White Dwarfs
• Improved Constraints on the Initial-to-Final Mass Relation of White Dwarfs using Wide Binaries
• The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey -- VIII: a post common envelope binary with a massive white dwarf and an active G-type secondary star
• The fastest stars in the Galaxy
• Single magnetic white dwarfs with Balmer emission lines: A small class with consistent physical characteristics as possible signposts for close-in planetary companions
• Masses of White Dwarf Binary Companions to Type Ia Supernovae Measured from Runaway Velocities
• Local stellar formation history from the 40 pc white dwarf sample
• Abell 30 -- A Binary Central Star Among the Born-Again Planetary Nebulae
• Influence of a mass transfer stability criterion on double white dwarf populations
• A gap in the double white dwarf separation distribution caused by the common-envelope evolution: astrometric evidence from Gaia
• An in-depth reanalysis of the alleged type Ia supernova progenitor Henize 2-428
• Two new Double-lined Spectroscopic Binary White Dwarfs
• Limits on the Auroral Generation of H${}_3^{+}$ in Brown Dwarf and Extrasolar Giant Planet Atmospheres with Keck/NIRSPEC
• Hidden in Plain Sight: A Double-lined White Dwarf Binary 26 pc Away and a Distant Cousin
• A 99-minute Double-lined White Dwarf Binary from SDSS-V
• A seven-Earth-radius helium-burning star inside a 20.5-min detached binary
• The ubiquity of carbon dredge-up in hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs as revealed by GALEX
• A Random Forest spectral classification of the Gaia 500-pc white dwarf population
• Testing Lyman alpha emission line reconstruction routines at multiple velocities in one system
• An Eclipsing 47 minute Double White Dwarf Binary at 400 pc
• Discovery of a young pre-intermediate polar
• Gaia0007-1605: an old triple system with an inner brown dwarf-white dwarf binary and an outer white dwarf companion
• All-Sky Faint DA White Dwarf Spectrophotometric Standards for Astrophysical Observatories: The Complete Sample
• Testing the mass-radius relation of white dwarfs in common proper motion pairs I.Hydrogen-dominated atmospheres
• Reconstructing post-common envelope white dwarf+main sequence binary histories through inverse population synthesis techniques
• Statistics of Magrathea exoplanets beyond the Main Sequence. Simulating the long-term evolution of circumbinary giant planets with TRES
• A GALEX view of the DA White Dwarf Population
• Astrophysics with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
• Two substellar survivor candidates; one found and one missing
• J0526+5934: a peculiar ultra-short period double white dwarf
• A network of cooler white dwarfs as infrared standards for flux calibration
• The role of triple evolution in the formation of LISA double white dwarfs
• The first phase of mass transfer in low-mass binaries: neither stable nor a common envelope
• Kinematic origin of white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood
• An irradiated-Jupiter analogue hotter than the Sun
• A Large Catalog of DA White Dwarf Characteristics Using SDSS and Gaia Observations
• Runaway blue main-sequence stars at high Galactic latitudes. Target selection with Gaia and spectroscopic identification
• HighSpec: A High-Resolution Spectrograph for the MAST Telescope Array
• Discovery of a second-generation planet candidate accreting onto a white dwarf
• Stars on the ascending helium giant branch I. From white dwarf merger to helium giant: the evolutionary state of the rapidly rotating hot subdwarf HE 1518-0948
• Resolution-Corrected White Dwarf Gravitational Redshifts Validate SDSS-V Wavelength Calibration and Enable Accurate Mass-Radius Tests
• 21 years of Astronomy at Warwick: celebrating the legacy of Prof. Tom Marsh
• Magnetic dynamos in white dwarfs -III: explaining the occurrence of strong magnetic fields in close double white dwarfs