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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal

The Carbon-dependent Binary Frequency of CEMP-no Stars

  • John D. Dixon1,2
  • Terese T. Hansen3
  • Jennifer Marshall1,2
  • Vinicius M. Placco4
  • Timothy C. Beers1,5
  • Anke Ardern-Arentsen6
  • Birgitta Nordström7,8
  • Lauren N. Aldoroty9,10
  • Jared Cathey3
  • Peter S. Ferguson11,12
  • Katherine Kristofek1
  • Karin Lind3
6 more authors
  • Hudson Malone1
  • Ferner Moreno1
  • Jessica Myron13
  • Alexander H. Riley14
  • Else Starkenburg15
  • Kaitlin B. Webber1,2
15 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Physics and Astronomy
  2. 2Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy
  3. 3Department of Astronomy
  4. 4NSF NOIRLab
  5. 5Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics– Center for the Evolution of the Elements (JINA-CEE)
  6. 6Institute of Astronomy
  7. 7Stellar Astrophysics Centre
  8. 8Copenhagen University
  9. 9University of Maryland Baltimore County
  10. 10NASA GSFC
  11. 11Physics Department
  12. 12DiRAC Institute and the Department of Astronomy
  13. 13Department of Physics
  14. 14Lund Observatory
  15. 15Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
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Abstract

Studies of the oldest and most metal-poor stars in the Milky Way confirm a common chemical signature of high carbon abundances and subsolar neutron-capture enrichment. The so-called carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP)-no stars are speculated to be bona fide population II stars, potentially tracing the nucleosynthesis of the first stars in the Universe. However, constraining the binary nature of CEMP-no stars is crucial for understanding their origins. The binary fraction of CEMP-no stars has tentatively been found to vary with carbon enhancement, independent of metallicity. Here we present the results of radial-velocity monitoring of 30 CEMP-no stars over 5 yr, increasing the total number of CEMP-no stars with a constrained binary status by ∼30% in order to better investigate the CEMP-no binary fraction as a function of carbon. Combining our results with literature data, we find an overall binary frequency of 5 0 − 13 + 13 % among high-carbon ( A (C)≥7.3) CEMP-no stars, compared to 1 8 − 4 + 5 % for low-carbon ( A (C) < 7.3) stars, establishing a statistically significant increase in the CEMP-no binary frequency as a function of carbon for the first time. Our results indicate no correlation between metallicity and binary frequency. Additionally, we derive orbital parameters for three new CEMP-no stars in binary systems and estimate secondary masses for these stars as well as seven binaries from the literature. We discuss these mass estimates in the context of investigating the nature of the unseen companions and the plausibility of a mass-transfer formation channel for high-carbon CEMP-no stars.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{dixon2026carbondependent,
  title = {{The Carbon-dependent Binary Frequency of CEMP-no Stars}},
  author = {John D. Dixon and Terese T. Hansen and Jennifer Marshall and Vinicius M. Placco and Timothy C. Beers and Anke Ardern-Arentsen and Birgitta Nordström and Lauren N. Aldoroty and Jared Cathey and Peter S. Ferguson and Katherine Kristofek and Karin Lind and Hudson Malone and Ferner Moreno and Jessica Myron and Alexander H. Riley and Else Starkenburg and Kaitlin B. Webber},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aeaa34},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeaa34},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The Carbon-dependent Binary Frequency of CEMP-no Stars
AU  - John D. Dixon
AU  - Terese T. Hansen
AU  - Jennifer Marshall
AU  - Vinicius M. Placco
AU  - Timothy C. Beers
AU  - Anke Ardern-Arentsen
AU  - Birgitta Nordström
AU  - Lauren N. Aldoroty
AU  - Jared Cathey
AU  - Peter S. Ferguson
AU  - Katherine Kristofek
AU  - Karin Lind
AU  - Hudson Malone
AU  - Ferner Moreno
AU  - Jessica Myron
AU  - Alexander H. Riley
AU  - Else Starkenburg
AU  - Kaitlin B. Webber
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/16
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/aeaa34
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeaa34
AB  - Studies of the oldest and most metal-poor stars in the Milky Way confirm a common chemical signature of high carbon abundances and subsolar neutron-capture enrichment. The so-called carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP)-no stars are speculated to be bona fide population II stars, potentially tracing the nucleosynthesis of the first stars in the Universe. However, constraining the binary nature of CEMP-no stars is crucial for understanding their origins. The binary fraction of CEMP-no stars has tentatively been found to vary with carbon enhancement, independent of metallicity. Here we present the results of radial-velocity monitoring of 30 CEMP-no stars over 5 yr, increasing the total number of CEMP-no stars with a constrained binary status by ∼30% in order to better investigate the CEMP-no binary fraction as a function of carbon. Combining our results with literature data, we find an overall binary frequency of 5 0 − 13 + 13 % among high-carbon ( A (C)≥7.3) CEMP-no stars, compared to 1 8 − 4 + 5 % for low-carbon ( A (C) < 7.3) stars, establishing a statistically significant increase in the CEMP-no binary frequency as a function of carbon for the first time. Our results indicate no correlation between metallicity and binary frequency. Additionally, we derive orbital parameters for three new CEMP-no stars in binary systems and estimate secondary masses for these stars as well as seven binaries from the literature. We discuss these mass estimates in the context of investigating the nature of the unseen companions and the plausibility of a mass-transfer formation channel for high-carbon CEMP-no stars.
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
ER  -