General relativistic orbital decay in a seven-minute-orbital-period eclipsing binary system

Kevin B Burdge; Michael W Coughlin; Jim Fuller; Thomas Kupfer; Eric C Bellm; Lars Bildsten; Matthew J Graham; David L Kaplan; Jan van Roestel; Richard G Dekany; Dmitry A Duev; Michael Feeney; Matteo Giomi; George Helou; Stephen Kaye; Russ R Laher; Ashish A Mahabal; Frank J Masci; Reed Riddle; David L Shupe; Maayane T Soumagnac; Roger M Smith; Paula Szkody; Richard Walters; S R Kulkarni; Thomas A Prince

doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1403-0

General relativistic orbital decay in a seven-minute-orbital-period eclipsing binary system

Nature. 2019 Jul;571(7766):528-531. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1403-0. Epub 2019 Jul 24.

Authors

Kevin B Burdge¹, Michael W Coughlin², Jim Fuller², Thomas Kupfer³, Eric C Bellm⁴, Lars Bildsten^{3

5}, Matthew J Graham², David L Kaplan⁶, Jan van Roestel², Richard G Dekany⁷, Dmitry A Duev², Michael Feeney⁷, Matteo Giomi⁸, George Helou⁹, Stephen Kaye⁷, Russ R Laher⁹, Ashish A Mahabal², Frank J Masci⁹, Reed Riddle⁷, David L Shupe⁹, Maayane T Soumagnac¹⁰, Roger M Smith⁷, Paula Szkody⁴, Richard Walters⁷, S R Kulkarni², Thomas A Prince²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. kburdge@caltech.edu.
² Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
³ Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁵ Department of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
⁷ Caltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁸ Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁹ IPAC, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

PMID: 31341301
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1403-0

Abstract

General relativity¹ predicts that short-orbital-period binaries emit considerable amounts of gravitational radiation. The upcoming Laser Interferometer Space Antenna² (LISA) is expected to detect tens of thousands of such systems³ but few have been identified⁴, of which only one⁵ is eclipsing-the double-white-dwarf binary SDSS J065133.338+284423.37, which has an orbital period of 12.75 minutes. Here we report the discovery of an eclipsing double-white-dwarf binary system, ZTF J153932.16+502738.8, with an orbital period of 6.91 minutes. This system has an orbit so compact that the entire binary could fit within the diameter of the planet Saturn. The system exhibits a deep eclipse, and a double-lined spectroscopic nature. We see rapid orbital decay, consistent with that expected from general relativity. ZTF J153932.16+502738.8 is a strong source of gravitational radiation close to the peak of LISA's sensitivity, and we expect it to be detected within the first week of LISA observations, once LISA launches in approximately 2034.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't