A Report on Stellar Companion Mass Estimates within Our Solar Neighborhood

Abstract

Abstract We present mass estimates and companion demographics on stellar multiples within 25 pc, using a survey of stars of all spectral types done by Robo-AO and supplemented by Gaia. The survey combined direct imaging by Robo-AO, a robotic adaptive optics instrument for 2 m class telescopes, to detect tight companions (<4″ separation) and with Gaia astrometry to detect wider co-moving companions. We estimated the masses for 267 companions using empirical relations and, for a subset of 97, dynamical mass estimates. We utilized previous mass–magnitude models using contrasts measured from Gaia and Robo-AO to estimate the mass and also used the orvara python package, a Markov Chain Monte Carlo orbit fitter using the companion astrometry and Hipparcos-Gaia proper motion accelerations, to estimate dynamical masses. We compare agreements and discrepancies in mass estimates from these two methods.