Spectroscopic Binary Detection as Agent-Callable Tools: Detecting 40,000+ Main-Sequence Binary Candidates from SDSS DR19 APOGEE Spectra
- 1The Ohio State University
Abstract
Unresolved binaries are common in spectroscopic surveys, and their blended light biases the parameters inferred for them. Methods to detect them exist, but applying one to a new data release is limited mostly by operating know-how that is rarely written down. We package the double-lined spectroscopic binary decomposition of El-Badry et al. (2018b) for reuse on APOGEE spectra, with the executable operations as nine tool servers built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and the operating decisions as a Skill. Run over the 238,205 DR19 dwarfs under a fixed driver script, the classifier flags 41,466 SB2 candidates, about fifteen times the 2,645 identified in DR13, though not at matched purity. The 8.1% control false-positive rate implies that close to 40% are single stars, so we release the sample as a candidate list. The joint visit fit prefers two stars for 46% of the SB2 with multiple visits. Of these, 4,149 have velocity changes above 10 km/s. This cut is also passed by 7% of flagged single stars. The pipeline velocities identify another 3,943 velocity variables. We compare the eccentricities of the best-sampled binaries and find no significant difference between the close twins (q > 0.95) and matched non-twins, which excludes an eccentricity excess of the kind measured at wide separations. An ablation of two operating decisions illustrates that a fresh agent recovers a removed decision only when its absence leaves a measurable trace in the fit. We release the tools, the Skill, and the DR19 catalog with its multi-epoch supplement.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{saad2026spectroscopic,
title = {{Spectroscopic Binary Detection as Agent-Callable Tools: Detecting 40,000+ Main-Sequence Binary Candidates from SDSS DR19 APOGEE Spectra}},
author = {Serat Mahmud Saad and Yuan-Sen Ting},
journal = {The Open Journal of Astrophysics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.33232/001c.172821},
url = {https://astro.theoj.org/article/172821-spectroscopic-binary-detection-as-agent-callable-tools-detecting-40-000-main-sequence-binary-candidates-from-sdss-dr19-apogee-spectra},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Spectroscopic Binary Detection as Agent-Callable Tools: Detecting 40,000+ Main-Sequence Binary Candidates from SDSS DR19 APOGEE Spectra
AU - Serat Mahmud Saad
AU - Yuan-Sen Ting
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - The Open Journal of Astrophysics
DO - 10.33232/001c.172821
UR - https://astro.theoj.org/article/172821-spectroscopic-binary-detection-as-agent-callable-tools-detecting-40-000-main-sequence-binary-candidates-from-sdss-dr19-apogee-spectra
AB - Unresolved binaries are common in spectroscopic surveys, and their blended light biases the parameters inferred for them. Methods to detect them exist, but applying one to a new data release is limited mostly by operating know-how that is rarely written down. We package the double-lined spectroscopic binary decomposition of El-Badry et al. (2018b) for reuse on APOGEE spectra, with the executable operations as nine tool servers built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and the operating decisions as a Skill. Run over the 238,205 DR19 dwarfs under a fixed driver script, the classifier flags 41,466 SB2 candidates, about fifteen times the 2,645 identified in DR13, though not at matched purity. The 8.1% control false-positive rate implies that close to 40% are single stars, so we release the sample as a candidate list. The joint visit fit prefers two stars for 46% of the SB2 with multiple visits. Of these, 4,149 have velocity changes above 10 km/s. This cut is also passed by 7% of flagged single stars. The pipeline velocities identify another 3,943 velocity variables. We compare the eccentricities of the best-sampled binaries and find no significant difference between the close twins (q > 0.95) and matched non-twins, which excludes an eccentricity excess of the kind measured at wide separations. An ablation of two operating decisions illustrates that a fresh agent recovers a removed decision only when its absence leaves a measurable trace in the fit. We release the tools, the Skill, and the DR19 catalog with its multi-epoch supplement.
SN - 2565-6120
ER -