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The origin of very wide binary systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2010

M. B. N. Kouwenhoven ,
S. P. Goodwin ,
Richard J. Parker ,
M. B. Davies ,
D. Malmberg  and
P. Kroupa
M. B. N. Kouwenhoven
Affiliation:
Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Lu 5, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100871, P. R. China email: kouwenhoven@kiaa.pku.edu.cn University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S37RH, UK
S. P. Goodwin
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S37RH, UK
Richard J. Parker
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S37RH, UK
M. B. Davies
Affiliation:
Lund Observatory, Box 43, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden
D. Malmberg
Affiliation:
Lund Observatory, Box 43, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden
P. Kroupa
Affiliation:
Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121, Bonn, Germany
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Abstract

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The majority of stars in the Galactic field and halo are part of binary or multiple systems. A significant fraction of these systems have orbital separations in excess of thousands of astronomical units, and systems wider than a parsec have been identified in the Galactic halo. These binary systems cannot have formed through the ‘normal’ star-formation process, nor by capture processes in the Galactic field. We propose that these wide systems were formed during the dissolution phase of young star clusters. We test this hypothesis using N-body simulations of evolving star clusters and find wide binary fractions of 1–30%, depending on initial conditions. Moreover, given that most stars form as part of a binary system, our theory predicts that a large fraction of the known wide ‘binaries’ are, in fact, multiple systems.

Keywords

binaries: generalstars: formationstellar dynamicsmethods: N-body simulations
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S266: Star clusters: basic galactic building blocks throughout time and space , August 2009 , pp. 438 - 441
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

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