The proper-motion signal of unresolved binaries in the Hipparcos catalogue

Abstract

We present an investigation of the differences between quasi-instantaneous stellar proper motions from the Hipparcos catalogue and long-term proper motions determined by combining Hipparcos and the Astrographic Catalogue. Our study is based on a sample of about 12000 stars of visual magnitude from 7 to 10 in two declination zones on the northern and equatorial sky. The distribution of the proper-motion differences shows an excess of large deviations. This is caused by the influence of orbital motion of unresolved binary systems. The proper-motion deviations provide statistical evidence for 360 astrometric binaries in the investigated zones, corresponding to about 2400 such binaries in the entire Hipparcos catalogue, in addition to those already known. In order to check whether the observed deviations are compatible with standard assumptions on the basic parameters of binary stars, we model the impact of orbital motion on the observed proper motions in a Monte Carlo simulation. We show that the simulation yields an acceptable approximation of the observations, if a binary frequency between 70% and 100% is assumed, i.e.if most of the stars in the sample are assumed to have a companion. Thus Hipparcos astrometric binaries confirm that the frequency of non-single stars among field stars is very high. We also investigate the influence of the mass function for the secondary component on the result of the simulation. A constant mass function and mass functions with moderate increase towards low masses lead to results, which are compatible with the observed proper-motion effects. A high preponderance of very-low-mass or substellar companions as produced, for example, by a M—1 power law is not in agreement with the frequency of proper-motion deviations in our sample of stars.