We present the current state of the WOCS radial-velocity (RV) survey for the rich open cluster NGC 6819 (2.5 Gyr) including 93 spectroscopic binary orbits with periods ranging from 1.5 to 8,000 days. These results are the product of our ongoing RV survey of NGC 6819 using the Hydra Multi-Object Spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5 m telescope. We also include a detailed analysis of multiple prior sets of optical photometry for NGC 6819. Within a 1 • field of view, our stellar sample includes the giant branch, the red clump, and blue straggler candidates, and extends to almost 2 mag below the main-sequence (MS) turnoff. For each star observed in our survey we present all RV measurements, the average RV and velocity variability information. Additionally, we discuss notable binaries from our sample, including eclipsing binaries (WOCS 23009, WOCS 24009, and WOCS 40007), stars noted in Kepler asteroseismology studies (WOCS 4008, WOCS 7009, and WOCS 8007), and potential descendants of past blue stragglers (WOCS 1006 and WOCS 6002). We find the incompletenesscorrected binary fraction for all MS binaries with periods less than 10 4 days to be 22% ± 3% and a tidal circularization period of 6.2 +1.1 −1.1 days for NGC 6819.

We present results of a Hubble Space Telescope far-ultraviolet (FUV) survey searching for white dwarf (WD) companions to blue straggler stars (BSSs) in open cluster NGC 188. The majority of NGC 188 BSSs (15 of 21) are single-lined binaries with properties suggestive of mass-transfer formation via Roche lobe overflow, specifically through an asymptotic giant branch star transferring mass to a main sequence secondary, yielding a BSS binary with a WD companion. In NGC 188, a BSS formed by this mechanism within the past 400 Myr will have a WD companion hot and luminous enough to be directly detected as a FUV photometric excess with HST. Comparing expected BSS FUV emission to observed photometry reveals four BSSs with WD companions above 12,000 K (younger than 250 Myr) and three WD companions with temperatures between 11,000-12,000 K. These BSS+WD binaries all formed through recent mass transfer. The location of the young BSSs in an optical color-magnitude diagram (CMD) indicates that distance from the zero-age main sequence does not necessarily correlate with BSS age. There is no clear CMD separation between mass transfer-formed BSSs and those likely formed through other mechanisms, such as collisions. The seven detected WD companions place a lower limit on the mass-transfer formation frequency of 33%. We consider other possible formation mechanisms by comparing properties of the BSS population to theoretical predictions. We conclude that 14 BSS binaries likely formed from mass transfer, resulting in an inferred mass-transfer formation frequency of approximately 67%.

Several possible formation pathways for blue straggler stars have been developed recently, but no one pathway has yet been observationally confirmed for a specific blue straggler. Here we report the first findings from a Hubble Space Telescope ACS/SBC far-UV photometric program to search for white dwarf companions to blue straggler stars. We find three hot and young white dwarf companions to blue straggler stars in the 7-Gyr open cluster NGC 188, indicating that mass transfer in these systems ended less than 300 Myr ago. These companions are direct and secure observational evidence that these blue straggler stars were formed through mass transfer in binary stars. Their existence in a well-studied cluster environment allows for observational constraints of both the current binary system and the progenitor binary system, mapping the entire mass transfer history.

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