Hidden Companions to Intermediate-mass Stars. VIII. Discovery of a 0.6 M ⊙, 1.7 au Companion to Albali = ϵ Aquarii* *Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile, Program ID 111.24UP.001.

Abstract

A large portion of the visually brightest stars in the night sky are late B to early A-type stars yet our knowledge of their multiplicity is incomplete. Here we report the discovery of a companion to the nearby star Albali (HIP 102618 = ϵ Aquarii), based on a VLTI/GRAVITY interferometric observation. The companion is at a projected separation ρ = 26 mas ↔ 1.7 au and has a K band flux ratio of 0.7%. Through isochrone fitting we find that Albali A is a 400 Myr old 2.8M ⊙ subgiant that has recently evolved off the main sequence, while the newly discovered Albali B is a 0.6 M ⊙ K dwarf. Further astrometric monitoring is needed in order to assess how strongly the stars are expected to interact as the primary expands.