The Symbiotic Stars

Abstract

Any white dwarf or neutron star that accretes enough material from a red giant companion, such that this interaction can be detected at some wavelength, is currently termed Symbiotic Star (typical P(orb)=2-3 years). In the majority of ~400 known systems, the WD burns nuclearly at its surface the accreted material, and the resulting high temperature (T(eff)=10(^5)~K) and luminosity (L(hot)=10(^3)-10(^4) Lsun) allow ionization of a large fraction of the cool giant's wind, making such symbiotic stars easily recognizable through the whole Galaxy and across the Local Group. X-ray observations are now revealing the existence of a parallel (and larger ?) population of optically-quiet, accreting-only symbiotic stars. Accretion flows and disks, ionization fronts and shock, complex 3D geometries and new evolution channels are gaining relevance and are reshaping our understanding of symbiotic stars. We review the different types of symbiotic stars currently in the family and their variegated outburst behaviors through an unified evolution scheme connecting them all.

arXiv commentInvited Review, published in "The Impact of Binary Stars on Stellar Evolution", G. Beccari and M.J. Boffin eds., Cambridge Univ. Press., Cambridge Astrophysical Series vol. 54, pag. 77 (2019). Proceedings of a Conference held on 3-7 July 2017, at ESO Headquarters, Garching, Germany

References in corpus (16)

• A catalogue of symbiotic stars
• The Symbiotic Neutron Star Binary GX 1+4/V2116 Ophiuchi
• A multi-epoch spectrophotometric atlas of symbiotic stars
• SU Lyncis, a hard X-ray bright M giant: Clues point to a large hidden population of symbiotic stars
• The 2015 super-active state of recurrent nova T CrB and the long term evolution after the 1946 outburst
• The 2010 nova outburst of the symbiotic Mira V407 Cyg
• Three-dimensional hydrodynamical models of wind and outburst-related accretion in symbiotic systems
• First detection and characterization of symbiotic stars in M31
• The 5 hr pulse period and broadband spectrum of the Symbiotic X-ray Binary 3A 1954+319
• Multi-periodic variations in the last 104 years light curve of the symbiotic star BF Cyg
• AG Pegasi - now a classical symbiotic star in outburst?
• Symbiotic Stars in OGLE Data I. Large Magellanic Cloud Systems
• Hydrodynamical simulations of the jet in the symbiotic star MWC 560 I. Structure, emission and synthetic absorption line profiles
• Discovery of optical flickering from the symbiotic star EF Aquilae
• Raman Scattered Ne VII$\lambda$973 at 4881 Å in the Symbiotic Star V1016 Cygni
• Rapid Variability as a Diagnostic of Accretion and Nuclear Burning in Symbiotic Stars and Supersoft X-ray Sources

Cited by in corpus (17)

• CoBiToM Project -- I. Contact Binaries Towards Merging
• INTEGRAL view on Cataclysmic Variables and Symbiotic Binaries
• Wind mass transfer in S-type symbiotic binaries II. Indication of wind focusing
• Spectroscopic and photometric analysis of symbiotic candidates -- I. Ten candidates on classical symbiotic stars
• Discovery of five new Galactic symbiotic stars in the VPHAS+ survey
• Very Long Baseline Interferometry imaging of the advancing ejecta in the first gamma-ray nova V407 Cyg
• White dwarf - main sequence star collisions from wide triples in the field
• Counterparts of Far Eastern Guest Stars: Novae, supernovae, or something else?
• The nature of the symbiotic candidate 2MASS J07363415+6538548 in the field of NGC 2403
• A Search for the modern counterparts of the Far Eastern guest stars 369 CE, 386 CE, and 393 CE
• UV spectroscopy confirms SU Lyn to be a symbiotic star
• Radio Spectral Index Analysis of Southern Hemisphere Symbiotic Stars
• LAMOST J202629.80+423652.0 is not a symbiotic star
• Post-AGB Binaries as Interacting Systems
• A Search for recurrent novae among Far Eastern guest stars
• Photometric Modulations on Intermediate Timescales in the Symbiotic Binaries
• Optical emission line spectra of symbiotic binaries