Formation of massive multiple-star systems: early migration and mergers

Clicks: 1
ID: 319303
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #803 of 908 articles by views in monthly notices of the royal astronomical society

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 908 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Massive stars are often found in multiple systems, yet how binary-star systems with very close separations (≲ au) assemble remains unresolved. We investigate the formation and inward migration of massive-star binaries in Solar-metallicity environments using the star-cluster formation simulation of Chon et al. (2024), which forms a 1200 M⊙ stellar cluster and resolves binaries down to 1 au separation. Our results indicate that stars more massive than 2 M⊙ predominantly assemble in binary or triple configurations, in agreement with observations, with member stars forming nearly coevally. In most of these systems, the inner binary hardens by one to three orders of magnitude and reaches a steady-state within the first 0.1 Myr. Notably, all binaries whose final separations are below 10 au are hardened with the aid of circumbinary discs, highlighting disc-driven migration as a key to produce tight massive binaries. We further find that binaries form with random inclinations relative to the initial rotation axis of the cloud, and that mutual inclinations in triple systems follow an isotropic distribution, implying that stochastic interactions driven by turbulence and few-body dynamics are crucial during assembly and migration. Finally, stars with M > 2 M⊙ often undergo repeated merger events during cluster evolution, yielding extreme mass ratios (q < 0.1). Some of these products may evolve into compact-object binaries containing a black hole or neutron star, including X-ray binaries and systems detectable by Gaia.
Reference Key
openalex_W7166849264 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Sunmyon Chon, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1231
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1231
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.