Eccentricity distribution of wide low-mass binaries
Andreï Tokovinin
Abstract
ABSTRACT Distribution of eccentricities of very wide (up to 10 kau) low-mass binaries in the solar neighbourhood is studied using the catalogue of El-Badry and Rix (2018) based on Gaia. Direction and speed of relative motions in wide pairs contain statistical information on the eccentricity distribution, otherwise inaccessible owing to very long orbital periods. It is found that the eccentricity distribution is close to the linear (thermal) one f(e) = 2e. However, pairs with projected separations <200 au have less eccentric orbits, while f(e) for wide pairs with s > 1 kau appears to be slightly superthermal, with an excess of very eccentric orbits. Eccentricity of any wide binary can be constrained statistically using direction and speed of its motion. The thermal eccentricity distribution signals an important role of the stellar dynamics in the formation of wide binaries, although disc-assisted capture also can produce such pairs with eccentric orbits.