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February 16, 2026The Astronomical Journal2 citationsOpen Access

A Not-so-compact Companion: Massive, Oversized White Dwarf in a Post-common-envelope Eclipsing Binary

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EMErin MotherwayELEvan LinckRMRobert D. Mathieu

Key Points

  • This research aims to characterize the massive white dwarf within the binary system 2M07515777+1807352 and explore its evolutionary history.
  • Characterization of the binary system's orbit (10.3 days, e = 0.02)
  • Spectral energy distribution analysis
  • TESS light-curve analysis
  • Lomb–Scargle analysis of the companion star's rotation
  • COSMIC modeling of the system's history
  • The white dwarf mass is measured at 1.08 M ⊙ with a radius of 1.54 ± 0.07 R ⊕ , exceeding typical expectations by 12 σ.
  • The main-sequence companion shows supersynchronous rotation with a period of ∼6 days, indicating possible past accretion.
  • The binary shares characteristics with other systems, suggesting a common formation pathway for massive white dwarfs.

Abstract

Abstract We provide a detailed characterization of 2M07515777+1807352, a post-common-envelope eclipsing binary system with a 10.3-day, nearly (but not quite) circular orbit ( e = 0.02). This system consists of a massive white dwarf (WD; 1.08 M ⊙ ) and a 4400 K main-sequence companion (0.66 M ⊙ ). This WD is among the most massive known within post-common-envelope binary systems. We also find, through both spectral energy distribution and TESS light-curve analyses, that the WD has a radius of 1.54 ± 0.07 R ⊕ , roughly 12 σ larger than the expected value from WD mass–radius relationships. Both the Lomb–Scargle analysis and the v sin i of the system indicate that the main-sequence companion is supersynchronously rotating at a period of ∼6 days, which may suggest that accretion occurred during the evolution of the system. This binary also shares similar physical characteristics with six other post-common-envelope systems hosting massive WDs, which may point to a shared formation pathway. We model the history of this system with COSMIC and find that it likely formed through an episode of common-envelope evolution following the onset of mass transfer when the progenitor primary was on either the early or thermally pulsing stages of the asymptotic giant branch. As a result of its properties, the study of 2M07515777+1807352 can provide new insights regarding many key outstanding questions in our understanding of common-envelope evolution.

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Cite This Study

Motherway et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6992b3fb9b75e639e9b08c51https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ae3b42
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