A conservative velocity test finds no excess in 686 selected Gaia wide binary pairs

We tested mean radial velocities in 686 nearby wide binary candidates from an EDR3 catalogue and Gaia DR3. Both stars have precise radial velocities and RUWE below 1.2. We derived and checked an exact symmetric correction for sky projection. The primary test allows a total mass of 4 solar masses and a 1 km/s stellar line shift. It also allows five times a doubled linear error sum. No pair exceeds this limit. The largest corrected difference is 3.037 km/s. The median limit is 9.28 km/s. In a diagnostic with fixed errors and selection, added offsets of either sign at 5 km/s flag only 2.77% of cases. The archive RV constancy test has p < 0.01 in 125 stars in 111 pairs. These pairs also pass the mean velocity test. The null result therefore does not exclude extra stars or planets. The maximum sky projection term is 0.0902 km/s. An exploratory fit does not resolve its coefficient from zero or one. We provide the equations, checked code, selected catalogue data, derived results, figures, exact archive queries, response hashes, and reproduction steps. Raw Gaia DR3 responses remain external inputs under the ESA data licence.

Gaia DR3 · wide binaries · radial velocity · sky projection · null result · reproducible research · stellar companions