A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity

H. Sana; T. Shenar; J. Bodensteiner; N. Britavskiy; N. Langer; D. J. Lennon; L. Mahy; I. Mandel; S. E. de Mink; L. R. Patrick; J. I. Villasenor; M. Dirickx; M. Abdul-Masih; L. A. Almeida; F. Backs; S. R. Berlanas; M. Bernini-Peron; D. M. Bowman; V. A. Bronner; P. A. Crowther; K. Deshmukh; C. J. Evans; M. Fabry; M. Gieles; A. Gilkis; G. Gonzalez-Tora; G. Grafener; Y. Gotberg; C. Hawcroft; V. Henault-Brunet; A. Herrero; G. Holgado; R. G. Izzard; A. de Koter; S. Janssens; C. Johnston; J. Josiek; S. Justham; V. M. Kalari; J. Klencki; J. Kubat; B. Kubatova; R. R. Lefever; J. Th. van Loon; B. Ludwig; J. Mackey; J. Maiz Apellaniz; G. Maravelias; P. Marchant; T. Mazeh; A. Menon; M. Moe; F. Najarro; L. M. Oskinova; R. Ovadia; D. Pauli; M. Pawlak; V. Ramachandran; M. Renzo; D. F. Rocha; A. A. C. Sander; F. R. N. Schneider; A. Schootemeijer; E. C. Schosser; C. Schurmann; K. Sen; S. Shahaf; S. Simon-Diaz; L. A. C. van Son; M. Stoop; S. Toonen; F. Tramper; R. Valli; A. Vigna-Gomez; J. S. Vink; C. Wang; R. Willcox

doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x

A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity

H. Sana, T. Shenar, J. Bodensteiner, N. Britavskiy, N. Langer, D. J. Lennon, L. Mahy, I. Mandel, S. E. de Mink, L. R. Patrick, J. I. Villasenor, M. Dirickx, M. Abdul-Masih, L. A. Almeida, F. Backs, S. R. Berlanas, M. Bernini-Peron, D. M. Bowman, V. A. Bronner, P. A. CrowtherK. Deshmukh, C. J. Evans, M. Fabry, M. Gieles, A. Gilkis, G. Gonzalez-Tora, G. Grafener, Y. Gotberg, C. Hawcroft, V. Henault-Brunet, A. Herrero, G. Holgado, R. G. Izzard, A. de Koter, S. Janssens, C. Johnston, J. Josiek, S. Justham, V. M. Kalari, J. Klencki, J. Kubat, B. Kubatova, R. R. Lefever, J. Th. van Loon, B. Ludwig, J. Mackey, J. Maiz Apellaniz, G. Maravelias, P. Marchant, T. Mazeh, A. Menon, M. Moe, F. Najarro, L. M. Oskinova, R. Ovadia, D. Pauli, M. Pawlak, V. Ramachandran, M. Renzo, D. F. Rocha, A. A. C. Sander, F. R. N. Schneider, A. Schootemeijer, E. C. Schosser, C. Schurmann, K. Sen, S. Shahaf, S. Simon-Diaz, L. A. C. van Son, M. Stoop, S. Toonen, F. Tramper, R. Valli, A. Vigna-Gomez, J. S. Vink, C. Wang, R. Willcox

Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

At high metallicity, a majority of massive stars have at least one close stellar companion. The evolution of such binaries is subject to strong interaction processes, which heavily impact the characteristics of their life-ending supernova and compact remnants. For the low-metallicity environments of high-redshift galaxies, constraints on the multiplicity properties of massive stars over the separation range leading to binary interaction are crucially missing. Here we show that the presence of massive stars in close binaries is ubiquitous, even at low metallicity. Using the Very Large Telescope, we obtained multi-epoch radial velocity measurements of a representative sample of 139 massive O-type stars across the Small Magellanic Cloud, which has a metal content of about one-fifth of the solar value. We find that 45% of them show radial velocity variations that demonstrate that they are members of close binary systems, and predominantly have orbital periods shorter than 1 year. Correcting for observational biases indicates that at least 70-6+11%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$7{0}_{-6}<^>{+11}\%$$\end{document} of the O stars in our sample are in close binaries, and that at least 68-8+7%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$6{8}_{-8}<^>{+7}\%$$\end{document} of all O stars interact with a companion star during their lifetime. We found no evidence supporting a statistically significant trend of the multiplicity properties with metallicity. Our results indicate that multiplicity and binary interactions govern the evolution of massive stars and determine their cosmic feedback and explosive fates.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1337-1346
Number of pages	15
Journal	Nature Astronomy
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x
Publication status	Published - 2 Sept 2025

Funding

Based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) under programme ID 112.25R7. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (grant agreement numbers 772225: MULTIPLES, 772086: ASSESS and 945806: TEL-STARS, ADG101054731: Stellar-BHs-SDSS-V, and 101164755: METAL). This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) under grant number 0603225041. We acknowledge support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (research grant ST/V000853/1 and ST/V000233/1), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the UK government's ERC Horizon Europe funding guarantee (grant number EP/Y031059/1), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (grant number URF\R1\231631), a Royal Society-Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellowship, the German Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Project-ID 496854903, 445674056 and 443790621, Germany's Excellence Strategy EXC 2181/1-390900948), the Klaus Tschira Foundation, the JSPS Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (23K19071) and international fellowships (at the Graduate school of Science, Tokyo University), the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav; project number CE230100016), the Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR) grants FKZ 50OR2005 and 50OR2306, Agencia Espanola de Investigacion (AEI) of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia Innovacion y Universidades (MICIU) and the European Regional Development Fund, FEDER and Severo Ochoa Programme (grants PID2021-122397NB-C21 and CEX2019-000920-S), the NextGeneration EU/PRTR and MIU (UNI/551/2021) trough grant Margarita Salas-UL, the CAPES-Br and FAPERJ/DSC-10 (SEI-260003/001630/2023), MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 by 'ERDF A way of making Europe' (grants PID2019-105552RB-C41 and PID2022-137779OB-C41, PID2021-125485NB-C22, CEX2019-000918-M) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (State Agency for Research of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and SGR-2021-01069 (AGAUR), the Spanish Government Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion and Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (10.13 039/501 100 011 033; grant PID2022-136 640 NB-C22), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC; grant 2022-AEP 005), the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (BEKKER fellowship BPN/BEK/2022/1/00106) and National Science Center (NCN, Poland; grant number OPUS 2021/41/B/ST9/00757), the 'La Caixa' Foundation (ID 100010434) under the fellowship code LCF/BQ/PI23/11970035, the Research foundation Flanders (FWO) PhD fellowship under project 11E1721N and senior postdoctoral fellowship under number 12ZY523N, and the Netherlands Research Council NWO (VIDI 203.061 grant).

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10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x

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Sana, H., Shenar, T., Bodensteiner, J., Britavskiy, N., Langer, N., Lennon, D. J., Mahy, L., Mandel, I., de Mink, S. E., Patrick, L. R., Villasenor, J. I., Dirickx, M., Abdul-Masih, M., Almeida, L. A., Backs, F., Berlanas, S. R., Bernini-Peron, M., Bowman, D. M., Bronner, V. A., ... Willcox, R. (2025). A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity. Nature Astronomy, 1337-1346. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x

@article{85d332a2175540cc9c6dfe82e12a1f05,

title = "A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity",

abstract = "At high metallicity, a majority of massive stars have at least one close stellar companion. The evolution of such binaries is subject to strong interaction processes, which heavily impact the characteristics of their life-ending supernova and compact remnants. For the low-metallicity environments of high-redshift galaxies, constraints on the multiplicity properties of massive stars over the separation range leading to binary interaction are crucially missing. Here we show that the presence of massive stars in close binaries is ubiquitous, even at low metallicity. Using the Very Large Telescope, we obtained multi-epoch radial velocity measurements of a representative sample of 139 massive O-type stars across the Small Magellanic Cloud, which has a metal content of about one-fifth of the solar value. We find that 45\% of them show radial velocity variations that demonstrate that they are members of close binary systems, and predominantly have orbital periods shorter than 1 year. Correcting for observational biases indicates that at least 70-6+11\%\textbackslash{}documentclass[12pt]\{minimal\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amsmath\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{wasysym\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amsfonts\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amssymb\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amsbsy\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{mathrsfs\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{upgreek\} \textbackslash{}setlength\{\textbackslash{}oddsidemargin\}\{-69pt\} \textbackslash{}begin\{document\}\$\$7\{0\}\_\{-6\}<\textasciicircum{}>\{+11\}\textbackslash{}\%\$\$\textbackslash{}end\{document\} of the O stars in our sample are in close binaries, and that at least 68-8+7\%\textbackslash{}documentclass[12pt]\{minimal\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amsmath\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{wasysym\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amsfonts\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amssymb\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{amsbsy\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{mathrsfs\} \textbackslash{}usepackage\{upgreek\} \textbackslash{}setlength\{\textbackslash{}oddsidemargin\}\{-69pt\} \textbackslash{}begin\{document\}\$\$6\{8\}\_\{-8\}<\textasciicircum{}>\{+7\}\textbackslash{}\%\$\$\textbackslash{}end\{document\} of all O stars interact with a companion star during their lifetime. We found no evidence supporting a statistically significant trend of the multiplicity properties with metallicity. Our results indicate that multiplicity and binary interactions govern the evolution of massive stars and determine their cosmic feedback and explosive fates.",

author = "H. Sana and T. Shenar and J. Bodensteiner and N. Britavskiy and N. Langer and Lennon, \{D. J.\} and L. Mahy and I. Mandel and \{de Mink\}, \{S. E.\} and Patrick, \{L. R.\} and Villasenor, \{J. I.\} and M. Dirickx and M. Abdul-Masih and Almeida, \{L. A.\} and F. Backs and Berlanas, \{S. R.\} and M. Bernini-Peron and Bowman, \{D. M.\} and Bronner, \{V. A.\} and Crowther, \{P. A.\} and K. Deshmukh and Evans, \{C. J.\} and M. Fabry and M. Gieles and A. Gilkis and G. Gonzalez-Tora and G. Grafener and Y. Gotberg and C. Hawcroft and V. Henault-Brunet and A. Herrero and G. Holgado and Izzard, \{R. G.\} and \{de Koter\}, A. and S. Janssens and C. Johnston and J. Josiek and S. Justham and Kalari, \{V. M.\} and J. Klencki and J. Kubat and B. Kubatova and Lefever, \{R. R.\} and \{van Loon\}, \{J. Th.\} and B. Ludwig and J. Mackey and \{Maiz Apellaniz\}, J. and G. Maravelias and P. Marchant and T. Mazeh and A. Menon and M. Moe and F. Najarro and Oskinova, \{L. M.\} and R. Ovadia and D. Pauli and M. Pawlak and V. Ramachandran and M. Renzo and Rocha, \{D. F.\} and Sander, \{A. A. C.\} and Schneider, \{F. R. N.\} and A. Schootemeijer and Schosser, \{E. C.\} and C. Schurmann and K. Sen and S. Shahaf and S. Simon-Diaz and \{van Son\}, \{L. A. C.\} and M. Stoop and S. Toonen and F. Tramper and R. Valli and A. Vigna-Gomez and Vink, \{J. S.\} and C. Wang and R. Willcox",

year = "2025",

month = sep,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x",

language = "English",

pages = "1337--1346",

journal = "Nature Astronomy",

issn = "2397-3366",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

Sana, H, Shenar, T, Bodensteiner, J, Britavskiy, N, Langer, N, Lennon, DJ, Mahy, L, Mandel, I, de Mink, SE, Patrick, LR, Villasenor, JI, Dirickx, M, Abdul-Masih, M, Almeida, LA, Backs, F, Berlanas, SR, Bernini-Peron, M, Bowman, DM, Bronner, VA, Crowther, PA, Deshmukh, K, Evans, CJ, Fabry, M, Gieles, M, Gilkis, A, Gonzalez-Tora, G, Grafener, G, Gotberg, Y, Hawcroft, C, Henault-Brunet, V, Herrero, A, Holgado, G, Izzard, RG, de Koter, A, Janssens, S, Johnston, C, Josiek, J, Justham, S, Kalari, VM, Klencki, J, Kubat, J, Kubatova, B, Lefever, RR, van Loon, JT, Ludwig, B, Mackey, J, Maiz Apellaniz, J, Maravelias, G, Marchant, P, Mazeh, T, Menon, A, Moe, M, Najarro, F, Oskinova, LM, Ovadia, R, Pauli, D, Pawlak, M, Ramachandran, V, Renzo, M, Rocha, DF, Sander, AAC, Schneider, FRN, Schootemeijer, A, Schosser, EC, Schurmann, C, Sen, K, Shahaf, S, Simon-Diaz, S, van Son, LAC, Stoop, M, Toonen, S, Tramper, F, Valli, R, Vigna-Gomez, A, Vink, JS, Wang, C & Willcox, R 2025, 'A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity', Nature Astronomy, pp. 1337-1346. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity

AU - Sana, H.

AU - Shenar, T.

AU - Bodensteiner, J.

AU - Britavskiy, N.

AU - Langer, N.

AU - Lennon, D. J.

AU - Mahy, L.

AU - Mandel, I.

AU - de Mink, S. E.

AU - Patrick, L. R.

AU - Villasenor, J. I.

AU - Dirickx, M.

AU - Abdul-Masih, M.

AU - Almeida, L. A.

AU - Backs, F.

AU - Berlanas, S. R.

AU - Bernini-Peron, M.

AU - Bowman, D. M.

AU - Bronner, V. A.

AU - Crowther, P. A.

AU - Deshmukh, K.

AU - Evans, C. J.

AU - Fabry, M.

AU - Gieles, M.

AU - Gilkis, A.

AU - Gonzalez-Tora, G.

AU - Grafener, G.

AU - Gotberg, Y.

AU - Hawcroft, C.

AU - Henault-Brunet, V.

AU - Herrero, A.

AU - Holgado, G.

AU - Izzard, R. G.

AU - de Koter, A.

AU - Janssens, S.

AU - Johnston, C.

AU - Josiek, J.

AU - Justham, S.

AU - Kalari, V. M.

AU - Klencki, J.

AU - Kubat, J.

AU - Kubatova, B.

AU - Lefever, R. R.

AU - van Loon, J. Th.

AU - Ludwig, B.

AU - Mackey, J.

AU - Maiz Apellaniz, J.

AU - Maravelias, G.

AU - Marchant, P.

AU - Mazeh, T.

AU - Menon, A.

AU - Moe, M.

AU - Najarro, F.

AU - Oskinova, L. M.

AU - Ovadia, R.

AU - Pauli, D.

AU - Pawlak, M.

AU - Ramachandran, V.

AU - Renzo, M.

AU - Rocha, D. F.

AU - Sander, A. A. C.

AU - Schneider, F. R. N.

AU - Schootemeijer, A.

AU - Schosser, E. C.

AU - Schurmann, C.

AU - Sen, K.

AU - Shahaf, S.

AU - Simon-Diaz, S.

AU - van Son, L. A. C.

AU - Stoop, M.

AU - Toonen, S.

AU - Tramper, F.

AU - Valli, R.

AU - Vigna-Gomez, A.

AU - Vink, J. S.

AU - Wang, C.

AU - Willcox, R.

PY - 2025/9/2

Y1 - 2025/9/2

N2 - At high metallicity, a majority of massive stars have at least one close stellar companion. The evolution of such binaries is subject to strong interaction processes, which heavily impact the characteristics of their life-ending supernova and compact remnants. For the low-metallicity environments of high-redshift galaxies, constraints on the multiplicity properties of massive stars over the separation range leading to binary interaction are crucially missing. Here we show that the presence of massive stars in close binaries is ubiquitous, even at low metallicity. Using the Very Large Telescope, we obtained multi-epoch radial velocity measurements of a representative sample of 139 massive O-type stars across the Small Magellanic Cloud, which has a metal content of about one-fifth of the solar value. We find that 45% of them show radial velocity variations that demonstrate that they are members of close binary systems, and predominantly have orbital periods shorter than 1 year. Correcting for observational biases indicates that at least 70-6+11%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$7{0}_{-6}<^>{+11}\%$$\end{document} of the O stars in our sample are in close binaries, and that at least 68-8+7%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$6{8}_{-8}<^>{+7}\%$$\end{document} of all O stars interact with a companion star during their lifetime. We found no evidence supporting a statistically significant trend of the multiplicity properties with metallicity. Our results indicate that multiplicity and binary interactions govern the evolution of massive stars and determine their cosmic feedback and explosive fates.

AB - At high metallicity, a majority of massive stars have at least one close stellar companion. The evolution of such binaries is subject to strong interaction processes, which heavily impact the characteristics of their life-ending supernova and compact remnants. For the low-metallicity environments of high-redshift galaxies, constraints on the multiplicity properties of massive stars over the separation range leading to binary interaction are crucially missing. Here we show that the presence of massive stars in close binaries is ubiquitous, even at low metallicity. Using the Very Large Telescope, we obtained multi-epoch radial velocity measurements of a representative sample of 139 massive O-type stars across the Small Magellanic Cloud, which has a metal content of about one-fifth of the solar value. We find that 45% of them show radial velocity variations that demonstrate that they are members of close binary systems, and predominantly have orbital periods shorter than 1 year. Correcting for observational biases indicates that at least 70-6+11%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$7{0}_{-6}<^>{+11}\%$$\end{document} of the O stars in our sample are in close binaries, and that at least 68-8+7%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$6{8}_{-8}<^>{+7}\%$$\end{document} of all O stars interact with a companion star during their lifetime. We found no evidence supporting a statistically significant trend of the multiplicity properties with metallicity. Our results indicate that multiplicity and binary interactions govern the evolution of massive stars and determine their cosmic feedback and explosive fates.

U2 - 10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x

DO - 10.1038/s41550-025-02610-x

M3 - Article

SN - 2397-3366

SP - 1337

EP - 1346

JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

ER -

A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity

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