WIYN Open Cluster Study. XCVII. An Extended Radial-velocity Survey and Spectroscopic Binary Orbits in the Open Cluster NGC 188

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Authors: Ritvik Sai Narayan, Evan Linck, Robert D. Mathieu, Aaron M. Geller
Cited by: 8
References: 105

Abstract

Abstract We present 35 new spectroscopic-binary orbits from our extended radial-velocity (RV) survey of the old (6.4 ± 0.2 Gyr) open cluster NGC 188. Using data from the WIYN Open Cluster Study (WOCS) and APOGEE-2, this work nearly doubles the temporal baseline of the previous RV study of NGC 188. We obtain orbital solutions within a stellar sample that spans a magnitude range of 10.8 ≤ G ≤ 16.5 (0.9–1.2 M ⊙ ). With revised membership determinations using Gaia DR3 proper motions and parallaxes, we reassess the cluster binary frequency and period-eccentricity distribution. The incompleteness-corrected binary frequency is 33.1% ± 3.8% for periods less than 10 4 days, and the tidal-circularization period is 14 . 4 − 0.11 + 0.14 days. We find evidence that giants are deficient in short-period orbits and suggest that the missing giants may have undergone mass transfer and in part formed the population of blue straggler stars (BSSs) and blue lurkers. Among the binaries of note, we highlight WOCS 3953 as a blue lurker candidate, WOCS 5020 and WOCS 4945 as very long-period eccentric BSSs, and WOCS 4230 as a BSS with a very close WD companion.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Stellar planetary and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysical Research Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
The Astronomical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Volume
171
Issue
2
Pages
102–102
Publication date
20 January 2026
Language
EN