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astro-ph.SR · Solar and Stellar Astrophysicsastro-ph.EP · Earth and Planetary Astrophysicsastro-ph.IM · Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

TESS shows too few eclipses at the Gaia DR3 SB1 periods of 13-80 MJ companions of FGK dwarfs: at least 27% of these orbits at 0.5-20 d are not real (95%, stellar-control calibration)

Gaia DR3 gives about 2,800 single-lined spectroscopic (SB1) orbits around FGK dwarfs where the minimum companion mass, m2 sin i, is 13-80 Jupiter masses (MJ). We tested if these orbits are real. A real companion at period P must eclipse its star with a known probability. We searched the TESS Quick-Look Pipeline light curves of 6,267 Gaia SB1 targets for eclipses at the Gaia period. The targets are in five m2 sin i groups: less than 13 MJ, 13-80 MJ (test group), and three stellar control groups (80-150, 150-300 and 300 MJ or more). One automatic detection rule applies to all groups. Injection and recovery of 900 synthetic eclipses calibrated the detection efficiency. At 0.5-20 d, the test group shows 28 signals at the Gaia period, but we expect 365 if all orbits are real (ratio 0.077, 68% interval 0.062-0.094). Only 7 of these signals have an eclipse shape. The control groups give ratios of 0.46, 0.82 and 2.0. A model of the stellar m2 sin i tail limits stars on low-inclination orbits to 44.5% or less of the test group. The control groups calibrate the eclipse rate of real companions. Thus at least 27% of the 13-80 MJ orbits at 0.5-20 d have no real companion at the Gaia period (95% confidence, most conservative variant; median 34-53%). Real brown dwarfs are 15% or less of these orbits (95%). These bounds assume that brown dwarfs eclipse at the rate that the stellar controls give and that their radius is 0.10 solar radii. At P < 0.5 d, 45.6% of the 13-80 MJ orbits need a primary star that is larger than its Roche lobe. Thus at least 31% of these orbits are not real. This test uses no photometry. We found two eclipsing systems at the Gaia period that are not TESS Objects of Interest: TIC 455184818 (P = 8.0586 d) and the grazing candidate TIC 227364383 (P = 2.8765 d). Gaia DR3 SB1 orbits with m2 sin i of 13-80 MJ are thus not a clean brown-dwarf sample. Do an independent check before you use one of these orbits. The publication includes the code, aggregate tables, per-target TESS measurements, figures and instructions to reproduce all results.

brown dwarfs · brown-dwarf desert · Gaia DR3 · spectroscopic binaries · SB1 orbits · TESS · eclipses · transits · false positives · orbit validation · injection-recovery · Roche lobe · FGK dwarfs · QLP light curves · eclipse probability · minimum mass · stellar companions · catalogue contamination

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  24. supportsTESS photometry shows that under 1% of Gaia DR3 SB1 orbits at 0.25-0.3 d and 2.6-6% at 0.3-0.5 d are real, for dwarf hosts, minimum companion mass below 0.15 Msun and ellipsoidal model scale 0.22-1 sci:sha256:be44296e576666e16eee60eb46d7ed9988006cb8fa86ff89aef7a169b6946693

    An ellipsoidal test with TESS found that few Gaia DR3 SB1 orbits at P < 0.5 d are real. Our Roche test and eclipse test agree.

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    A periastron Roche test found that 2,668 Gaia DR3 SB1 entries at P < 10 d fail a detached-star test. Our Roche test at P < 0.5 d agrees.

  26. Gaia DR3 SB1 orbits predict eclipse times with errors 1.45 times too small and 2.8% gross outliers, in a test with 1582 Gaia and 416 TESS eclipsing binaries of period mostly below 10 d sci:sha256:dd865fb0fe9055c98a3460d9be2bbf502e8b89f6a76ac3e6eb991affe46753d7

    Gaia DR3 SB1 orbits predict eclipse times with errors 1.45 times too small. Our search lets the epoch go free in a window around the Gaia period.

  27. supportsGaia eclipse periods disagree with 32 of 39 SB1 entries flagged by a detached-star test in a 1,643-source sample sci:sha256:6ce1fde432bc3216b9e2a416e8b8e9b19a6fe0263e063e4bb571d6a9792b2347

    Gaia eclipse periods disagree with 32 of 39 SB1 entries that fail a detached-star test. This also shows wrong SB1 orbits.

  28. Three of 33 entries in a frozen TESS table lack notes on large period differences with Gaia DR3 SB1 solutions sci:sha256:19bf92b682bb9f65d553d455ba98e3c6f92c495ccd349fa730a2966d3a83e37b

    A related comparison of TESS periods with Gaia DR3 SB1 periods.

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    Case checks of Gaia DR3 SB1 companion masses for two TOIs (TOI-6936.01 and TOI-7590.01).

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