Very Wide Binaries and Other Comoving Stellar Companions: A Bayesian Analysis of the Hipparcos Catalogue

Understand

We develop Bayesian statistical methods for discovering and assigning probabilities to non-random (e.g., physical) stellar companions.

• These companions are either presently bound or were previously bound.
• The probabilities depend on similarities in corrected proper motion parallel and perpendicular to the brighter component's motion, parallax, and the local phase-space density of field stars.
• Control experiments are conducted to understand the behavior of false positives.