Binary post-AGB stars radial velocities

As a result, we derive and update orbital elements for 33 galactic post-AGB binaries, among which 3 are new orbits. The orbital periods of the systems range from 100 to about 3000 days. Over 70 percent (23 out of 33) of our binaries have significant non-zero eccentricities ranging over all periods.

Their orbits are non-circular despite the fact that the Roche-lobe radii are smaller than the maximum size of a typical AGB star and tidal circularisation should have been strong when the objects were on the AGB. We derive a distribution of companion masses that is peaked around 1.09M_{sun}_ with a standard deviation of 0.62M_{sun}_. The large spread in companion masses highlights the diversity of post-AGB binary systems.

Post-AGB binaries are often chemically peculiar, showing in their photospheres the result of an accretion process of circumstellar gas devoid of refractory elements. We find that only post-AGB stars with high effective temperatures (>5500K) in wide orbits are depleted in refractory elements, suggesting that re-accretion of material from a circumbinary disc is an ongoing process. It appears, however, that depletion is inefficient for the closest orbits irrespective of the actual surface temperature.