Gaia DR3 data show six candidate stellar pairs at 500–10,000 au among 146 on-target complex periodic variable entries

Do young complex periodic variables (CPVs) have more wide stellar companions than similar fast rotators? We use a signed TESS census, inherited group labels, a published wide-binary catalog, and direct Gaia DR3 searches. Six of 146 entries with a signal located on the target star have a candidate companion at projected separation 500–10,000 au. The cuts require angle at least 3 arcsec, both G magnitudes at most 18, contrast at most 3 mag, and similar parallax and proper motion. Three pairs are absent from the El-Badry et al. catalog. One absent pair is already known. The fixed comparison has 65 CPVs and 318 controls matched within the same young group. Direct searches give 3 and 15 detections. After removal of both sets that share a detected control pair, 63 CPVs and 308 controls have 3 and 13 detections. The conditional odds ratio is 1.15, with a 95% profile likelihood interval of 0.26–3.58 and an exact two-sided p value of 1.00. This small sample shows no clear excess and allows large effects. Shifted searches give no detections, but do not exclude correlated association neighbors. The released table has 20 distinct candidate pairs across the on-target CPVs and the 318 controls. Ten pairs are absent from the published catalog. These results measure catalog coverage under stated cuts. They do not prove binding or establish a new binary discovery. The package preserves exact source data, query records, code, figures, independent numerical checks, and an offline reproduction pipeline.

complex periodic variables · Gaia DR3 · wide stellar companions · young stars · matched controls · catalog completeness · reproducible astronomy