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No longer impossible: the self-lensing binary KIC 8145411 is a triple
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Submitted 1 May 2024
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim In this work, we show that KIC 8145411 is in fact a hierarchical triple system: it contains a WD orbiting a solar-type star, with another solar-type star $\sim 700\,$AU away.
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The abstract, sentence by sentence
Five self-lensing binaries (SLBs) have been discovered with data from the \textit{Kepler} mission. One of these systems is KIC 8145411, which was reported to host an extremely low mass (ELM; $0.2\,M_{\odot}$) white dwarf (WD) in a 456-day orbit with a solar-type companion. The system has been dubbed "impossible", because evolutionary models predict that $\sim 0.2\,M_{\odot}$ WDs should only be found in tight orbits ($P_{\rm orb} \lesssim$ days). In this work, we show that KIC 8145411 is in fact a hierarchical triple system: it contains a WD orbiting a solar-type star, with another solar-type star $\sim 700\,$AU away. The wide companion was unresolved in the Kepler light curves, was just barely resolved in Gaia DR3, and is resolved beyond any doubt by high-resolution imaging. We show that the presence of this tertiary confounded previous mass measurements of the WD for two reason: it dilutes the amplitude of the self-lensing pulses, and it reduces the apparent radial velocity (RV) variability amplitude of the WD's companion due to line blending. By jointly fitting the system's light curves, RVs, and multi-band photometry using a model with two luminous stars, we obtain a revised WD mass of $(0.53 \pm 0.01)\,M_{\odot}$. Both luminous stars are near the end of their main-sequence evolution. The WD is thus not an ELM WD, and the system does not suffer the previously proposed challenges to its formation history. Similar to the other SLBs and the population of astrometric WD binaries recently identified from Gaia data, KIC 8145411 has parameters in tension with standard expectations for formation through both stable and unstable mass transfer. The system's properties are likely best understood as a result of unstable mass transfer from an AGB star donor.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | Five self-lensing binaries (SLBs) have been discovered with data from the \textit{Kepler} mission. | background 1.00 | 0.07 | 0.02 | asserted 1.00 |
| s1 | One of these systems is KIC 8145411, which was reported to host an extremely low mass (ELM; $0.2\,M_{\odot}$) white dwarf (WD) in a 456-day orbit with a solar-type companion. | background 1.00 | 0.10 | 0.04 | asserted 0.99 |
| s2 | The system has been dubbed "impossible", because evolutionary models predict that $\sim 0.2\,M_{\odot}$ WDs should only be found in tight orbits ($P_{\rm orb} \lesssim$ days). | background 0.95 | 0.06 | 0.03 | asserted 0.85 |
| s3 | In this work, we show that KIC 8145411 is in fact a hierarchical triple system: it contains a WD orbiting a solar-type star, with another solar-type star $\sim 700\,$AU away. | result 0.87 | 0.94 | 0.88 | asserted 1.00 |
| s4 | The wide companion was unresolved in the Kepler light curves, was just barely resolved in Gaia DR3, and is resolved beyond any doubt by high-resolution imaging. | result 0.68 | 0.68 | 0.05 | asserted 1.00 |
| s5 | We show that the presence of this tertiary confounded previous mass measurements of the WD for two reason: it dilutes the amplitude of the self-lensing pulses, and it reduces the apparent radial velocity (RV) variability amplitude of the WD's companion due to line blending. | interpretation 0.51 | 0.84 | 0.08 | asserted 1.00 |
| s6 | By jointly fitting the system's light curves, RVs, and multi-band photometry using a model with two luminous stars, we obtain a revised WD mass of $(0.53 \pm 0.01)\,M_{\odot}$. | result 1.00 | 0.97 | 0.25 | asserted 1.00 |
| s7 | Both luminous stars are near the end of their main-sequence evolution. | result 0.96 | 0.80 | 0.05 | asserted 1.00 |
| s8 | The WD is thus not an ELM WD, and the system does not suffer the previously proposed challenges to its formation history. | interpretation 0.91 | 0.85 | 0.35 | asserted 1.00 |
| s9 | Similar to the other SLBs and the population of astrometric WD binaries recently identified from Gaia data, KIC 8145411 has parameters in tension with standard expectations for formation through both stable and unstable mass transfer. | interpretation 0.76 | 0.56 | 0.08 | asserted 0.96 |
| s10 | The system's properties are likely best understood as a result of unstable mass transfer from an AGB star donor. | interpretation 1.00 | 0.64 | 0.30 | hedged possibility 1.00 |
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The paper
Original abstract
Five self-lensing binaries (SLBs) have been discovered with data from the \textit{Kepler} mission. One of these systems is KIC 8145411, which was reported to host an extremely low mass (ELM; $0.2\,M_{\odot}$) white dwarf (WD) in a 456-day orbit with a solar-type companion. The system has been dubbed "impossible", because evolutionary models predict that $\sim 0.2\,M_{\odot}$ WDs should only be found in tight orbits ($P_{\rm orb} \lesssim$ days). In this work, we show that KIC 8145411 is in fact a hierarchical triple system: it contains a WD orbiting a solar-type star, with another solar-type star $\sim 700\,$AU away. The wide companion was unresolved in the Kepler light curves, was just barely resolved in Gaia DR3, and is resolved beyond any doubt by high-resolution imaging. We show that the presence of this tertiary confounded previous mass measurements of the WD for two reason: it dilutes the amplitude of the self-lensing pulses, and it reduces the apparent radial velocity (RV) variability amplitude of the WD's companion due to line blending. By jointly fitting the system's light curves, RVs, and multi-band photometry using a model with two luminous stars, we obtain a revised WD mass of $(0.53 \pm 0.01)\,M_{\odot}$. Both luminous stars are near the end of their main-sequence evolution. The WD is thus not an ELM WD, and the system does not suffer the previously proposed challenges to its formation history. Similar to the other SLBs and the population of astrometric WD binaries recently identified from Gaia data, KIC 8145411 has parameters in tension with standard expectations for formation through both stable and unstable mass transfer. The system's properties are likely best understood as a result of unstable mass transfer from an AGB star donor.
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References
How the literature uses it
5 arXiv papers cite this in 7 sentences
Papers citing it · 6 sentences without a confident label
Compares with it 1 paper
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A similar phenomenon is observed in post-Common Envelope binaries with similar periods [ref] .
Once a Triple, Not Always a Triple: The Evolution of Hierarchical Triples that Yield Merged Inner Binaries · Origin of the Orbital Structure of BSS Binaries · 0.93
What it cites
Uses data or values from 1 paper
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We use 2MASS JHKs [ref] and Pan-STARRS1 griz [ref] photometry of this source.
The Pan-STARRS1 Surveys · 2MASS and Pan-STARRS photometry · 1.00
Compares with 1 paper
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Meanwhile, its orbit is larger than PCEBs predicted by previous binary population synthesis codes [ref] , though it is consistent with some recent models of CEE from thermally-pulsating AGB donors (e.g. [ref] ; [ref] ).
Wide post-common envelope binaries from Gaia: orbit validation and formation models · Formation history · 0.96
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