CHARA Array Observations of the Evolved Components in Symbiotic Star Systems

Abstract The nature of the mechanisms that drive mass transfer in symbiotic stars remains an area of active research in stellar astronomy. Constraining the role that both stellar winds and Roche-lobe overflow play in this process is crucial to improving our understanding of these binaries and connecting them to important transient events such as recurrent novae and Type Ia supernovae. The high-resolution capabilities of an optical interferometer can resolve the geometric structure of the red giant in symbiotic stars and help answer this question. This work presents the results of an optical interferometric study using the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array for the purpose of measuring the angular diameter of and imaging the cool giant in four symbiotic and related systems. Here we report H -band observations collected with MIRC-X. Model fitting and image reconstruction are used to test for Roche-lobe-filling geometries. Near-simultaneous infrared spectroscopy taken using the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF) is used to determine the fundamental stellar parameters of the cool giant in each system. The parametric fits reported here favor circularly symmetric disk models over elongated geometries, while imaging suggests the presence of surface features on three of these stars. We find that the three systems with constrained orbits have inferred time-averaged filling factors below unity.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2026-10-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aea0d3
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

CHARA Array Observations of the Evolved Components in Symbiotic Star Systems

Cyprien Lanthermann, Gail H. Schaefer, Sorabh Chhabra, Nirupam Roy et al.
1 links
The Astrophysical Journal
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
article

CHARA Array Observations of the Evolved Components in Symbiotic Star Systems

Cyprien Lanthermann, Gail H. Schaefer, Sorabh Chhabra, Nirupam Roy, Mayra Gutierrez, John D. Monnier, Rachael M. Roettenbacher, Fabien Baron, Christopher D. Farrington, Benjamin R. Setterholm, Olli Majoinen, Narsireddy Anugu, M. Otulakowska-Hypka, Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, Douglas R. Gies, Jacob Ennis, Noura Ibrahim, J.-B. Le Bouquin, Isabelle Codron, Theo A. ten Brummelaar, Thomas M. Gaudin, Rebecca Proni, Norm Vargas, Tyler Gardner, Andrew Kotowski, Cody Gustafson, Cameron Caruso, Ryan Norris, Yesenia Beltran, Mason Earick, Jacob Sandusky, Calire Davies, Stefan Kraus
article en

Abstract

Abstract The nature of the mechanisms that drive mass transfer in symbiotic stars remains an area of active research in stellar astronomy. Constraining the role that both stellar winds and Roche-lobe overflow play in this process is crucial to improving our understanding of these binaries and connecting them to important transient events such as recurrent novae and Type Ia supernovae. The high-resolution capabilities of an optical interferometer can resolve the geometric structure of the red giant in symbiotic stars and help answer this question. This work presents the results of an optical interferometric study using the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array for the purpose of measuring the angular diameter of and imaging the cool giant in four symbiotic and related systems. Here we report H -band observations collected with MIRC-X. Model fitting and image reconstruction are used to test for Roche-lobe-filling geometries. Near-simultaneous infrared spectroscopy taken using the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF) is used to determine the fundamental stellar parameters of the cool giant in each system. The parametric fits reported here favor circularly symmetric disk models over elongated geometries, while imaging suggests the presence of surface features on three of these stars. We find that the three systems with constrained orbits have inferred time-averaged filling factors below unity.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 1011(1)
Pennsylvania State University (US), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US), Georgia State University (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (US), University of Exeter (GB), University of Michigan (US), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (FR), Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (PL)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, Georgia State University, Heising-Simons Foundation, European Commission, Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, University at Buffalo
Openalex Percentile: Top 32%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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