A Double-line M-dwarf Eclipsing Binary from CSS × SDSS

Abstract

Eclipsing binaries offer a unique opportunity to determine basic stellar properties. With the advent of wide-field camera and all-sky time-domain surveys, thousands of eclipsing binaries have been charted via light curve classification, yet their fundamental properties remain unexplored mainly due to the extensive efforts needed for spectroscopic follow-ups. In this paper, we present the discovery of a short-period ( P = 0.313 day), double-lined M-dwarf eclipsing binary, CSSJ114804.3+255132/SDSSJ114804.35+255132.6, by cross-matching binary light curves from the Catalina Sky Survey and spectroscopically classified M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We obtain follow-up spectra using the Gemini telescope, enabling us to determine the mass, radius, and temperature of the primary and secondary component to be M {sub 1} = 0.47 ± 0.03(statistic) ± 0.03(systematic) M {sub ⊙}, M {sub 2} = 0.46 ± 0.03(statistic) ± 0.03(systematic) M {sub ⊙}, R {sub 1} = 0.52 ± 0.08(statistic) ± 0.07(systematic) R {sub ⊙}, R {sub 2} =0.60 ± 0.08(statistic) ± 0.08(systematic) R {sub ⊙}, T {sub 1} = 3560 ± 100 K, and T {sub 2} = 3040 ± 100 K, respectively. The systematic error was estimated using the difference between eccentric and non-eccentric fits. Our analysis also indicates that there is definitively third-light contamination (66%) in the CSS photometry. The secondary star seems inflated, probably due to tidal locking of the close secondary companion, which is common for very short-period binary systems. Future spectroscopic observations with high resolution will narrow down the uncertainties of stellar parameters for both components, rendering this system as a benchmark for studying fundamental properties of M dwarfs.