Abstract NSVS 14256825 is the second discovered sdOB+dM eclipsing-binary system with an orbital period of 2.65 h. This special binary was reported to contain circumbinary planets or brown dwarfs by using the timing method. However, different results were derived by different authors because of the insufficient coverage of eclipse timings. Since 2008, we have monitored this binary for about 10 yr using several telescopes and 84 new times of light minimum were obtained with high precision. It is found that the O − C curve has been increasing recently and it shows a cyclic variation with a period of 8.83 yr and an amplitude of 46.31 seconds. The cyclic change cannot be explained by magnetic activity cycles of the red dwarf component because the required energy is much larger than that radiated by this component in one whole period. This cyclic change detected in NSVS 14256825 could be explained by the light-travel time effect via the presence of a third body. The lowest mass of the third body is determined to be 14.15 Mjup which is in the transition range between planets and brown dwarfs. The substellar object is orbiting around this evolved binary at an orbital separation of around 3 AU with an eccentricity of 0.12. These results indicate that NSVS 14256825 is the first sdOB-type eclipsing binary consisting of a hierarchical substellar object. The detection of a close-in substellar companion to NSVS 14256825 will provide some insights on the formation and evolution of sdOB-type binaries and their companions.

Keywords binaries: close — binaries: eclipsing — stars: evolution — stars: individual (NSVS 14256825)

https://doi.org/10.1088/1674–4527/19/9/134