Masses of white dwarfs in symbiotic binaries

Abstract

Masses have been computed for the white dwarfs (WDs) in eclipsing, mass exchange (symbiotic), WD–red giant (RG) binaries by using single-lined spectroscopic orbits, orbital inclinations, and the RG masses. Inclinations have been measured for 13 eclipsing symbiotic binaries. Using Gaia data the mass of the RG can be found from evolutionary tracks. Since the WD evolved from the more massive star in the binary, the WD should be more massive than predicted from the mass of the current RG. Typically the WD has a lower mass than expected implying a previous mass exchange stage for these systems.