A survey of the high order multiplicity of nearby solar-type binary stars with Robo-AO

Abstract

We conducted a survey of nearby binary systems composed of main sequence stars of spectral types F and G in order to improve our understanding of the hierarchical nature of multiple star systems. Using Robo-AO, the first robotic adaptive optics instrument, we collected high angular resolution images with deep and well-defined detection limits in the SDSS $i'$ band. A total of 695 components belonging to 595 systems were observed. We prioritized observations of faint secondary components with separations over $10''$ to quantify the still poorly constrained frequency of their sub-systems. Of the 214 secondaries observed, 39 contain such subsystems; 19 of those were discovered with Robo-AO. The selection-corrected frequency of secondary sub-systems with periods from $10^{3.5}$ to $10^5$ days is 0.12$\pm$0.03, the same as the frequency of such companions to the primary. Half of the secondary pairs belong to quadruple systems where the primary is also a close pair, showing that the presence of sub-systems in both components of the outer binary is correlated. The relatively large abundance of 2+2 quadruple systems is a new finding, and will require more exploration of the formation mechanism of multiple star systems. We also targeted close binaries with periods less than 100~yr, searching for their distant tertiary components, and discovered 17 certain and 2 potential new triples. In a sub-sample of 241 close binaries, 71 have additional outer companions. The overall frequency of tertiary components is not enhanced, compared to all (non-binary) targets, but in the range of outer periods from $10^6$ to $10^{7.5}$ days (separations on the order of 500~AU), the frequency of tertiary components is 0.16$\pm$0.03, exceeding by almost a factor of two the frequency of similar systems among all targets (0.09).