{"oa_version":"Published Version","scopus_import":"1","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"month":"02","dataavailabilitystatement":"This research has made use of data and/or software provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), which is a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC. This research has made use of the SVO Filter Profile Service “Carlos Rodrigo,” funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ through grant PID2023-146210NB-I00.\r\n\r\nSoftware: The Tractor (Lang et al. 2016), HEASARC (NASA High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center 2024), Astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013, 2018, 2022).","article_number":"024202","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1538-3873"],"issn":["0004-6280"]},"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Stripped stars are hot, helium-rich stars formed when binary interactions remove a star’s hydrogen envelope. While low-mass (≲1 M⊙) and high-mass (≳8 M⊙) stripped stars are well studied as hot subdwarfs and Wolf–Rayet stars, their intermediate-mass counterparts (1–8 M⊙) have only recently been discovered. The Stripped-Star Ultraviolet Magellanic Cloud Survey (SUMS) identified UV-excess sources (i.e., sources lying blueward of the main sequence) in the Magellanic Clouds using Swift-UVOT photometry and selected 820 photometric stripped-star candidates. However, the completeness and purity of this sample remain poorly understood. We forward model the population of stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds using a binary population synthesis model combined with spatially resolved star formation histories and simulated UV photometry. To assess survey sensitivity, we inject simulated sources into real Swift-UVOT images and reproduce the SUMS selection process, including crowding, extinction, and photometric quality cuts. For the SMC and LMC, we respectively recover 31% and 15% of sources with intrinsic UV excess, and 11% and 7% of all stripped stars. The rest are missed due to dilution by luminous companions, crowding, high extinction, and limited survey coverage. The observed population is biased toward systems with low-mass companions formed by common envelope evolution and systems with compact object companions. We predict contamination of the observed stripped-star candidates by main-sequence stars with spurious UV excess due to crowding and provide guidelines for selecting higher-purity subsamples. Our population synthesis model matches the number and properties of observed stripped star candidates with masses of (2–5) M⊙ well. It underpredicts the number of lower- and higher-mass candidates, perhaps due to contamination."}],"citation":{"mla":"Blomberg, Lisa, et al. “Intermediate-Mass Stripped Stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward Modeling the Observed Population Discovered via UV Excess.” <i>Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific</i>, vol. 138, no. 2, 024202, IOP Publishing, 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19\">10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19</a>.","apa":"Blomberg, L., El-Badry, K., Ludwig, B., Drout, M. R., &#38; Götberg, Y. L. L. (2026). Intermediate-mass stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward modeling the observed population discovered via UV excess. <i>Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific</i>. IOP Publishing. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19\">https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19</a>","ieee":"L. Blomberg, K. El-Badry, B. Ludwig, M. R. Drout, and Y. L. L. Götberg, “Intermediate-mass stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward modeling the observed population discovered via UV excess,” <i>Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific</i>, vol. 138, no. 2. IOP Publishing, 2026.","ista":"Blomberg L, El-Badry K, Ludwig B, Drout MR, Götberg YLL. 2026. Intermediate-mass stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward modeling the observed population discovered via UV excess. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 138(2), 024202.","short":"L. Blomberg, K. El-Badry, B. Ludwig, M.R. Drout, Y.L.L. Götberg, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 138 (2026).","chicago":"Blomberg, Lisa, Kareem El-Badry, Bethany Ludwig, Maria R. Drout, and Ylva Louise Linsdotter Götberg. “Intermediate-Mass Stripped Stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward Modeling the Observed Population Discovered via UV Excess.” <i>Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific</i>. IOP Publishing, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19\">https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19</a>.","ama":"Blomberg L, El-Badry K, Ludwig B, Drout MR, Götberg YLL. Intermediate-mass stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward modeling the observed population discovered via UV excess. <i>Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific</i>. 2026;138(2). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19\">10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19</a>"},"doi":"10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19","file_date_updated":"2026-10-12T08:12:05Z","article_processing_charge":"Yes (in subscription journal)","department":[{"_id":"YlGo"}],"has_accepted_license":"1","external_id":{"arxiv":["2510.18965"]},"acknowledgement":"We thank the referee for their constructive comments. We thank Hugues Sana’s group at KU Lueven and Greg Green for useful discussions. This research was supported by NSF grants AST-2508988 and AST-2307232. B.L. has received financial support from the Flemish Government under the long-term structural Methusalem funding program by means of the project SOUL: Stellar evolution in full glory, grant METH/24/012 at KU Leuven. M.R.D. acknowledges support from the NSERC through grant RGPIN-2019-06186, the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Ontario Early Researchers Award ER22-17-164, and the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto.\r\n\r\nThis project was developed in part at the Lorentz Center workshop “From discovery to a population: benchmarking stripped stars and companions” held in 2024 July in Leiden, Netherlands.\r\n\r\nThis research has made use of data and/or software provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), which is a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC. This research has made use of the SVO Filter Profile Service “Carlos Rodrigo,” funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ through grant PID2023-146210NB-I00.\r\n\r\nSoftware: The Tractor (Lang et al. 2016), HEASARC (NASA High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center 2024), Astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013, 2018, 2022).","ddc":["520"],"date_updated":"2026-10-12T08:13:30Z","_id":"23053","publisher":"IOP Publishing","title":"Intermediate-mass stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward modeling the observed population discovered via UV excess","das_tickbox":"1","OA_place":"publisher","day":"01","author":[{"first_name":"Lisa","full_name":"Blomberg, Lisa","last_name":"Blomberg"},{"first_name":"Kareem","full_name":"El-Badry, Kareem","last_name":"El-Badry"},{"last_name":"Ludwig","first_name":"Bethany","full_name":"Ludwig, Bethany"},{"last_name":"Drout","full_name":"Drout, Maria R.","first_name":"Maria R."},{"orcid":"0000-0002-6960-6911","last_name":"Götberg","id":"d0648d0c-0f64-11ee-a2e0-dd0faa2e4f7d","first_name":"Ylva Louise Linsdotter","full_name":"Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter"}],"file":[{"success":1,"file_id":"23102","content_type":"application/pdf","creator":"dernst","file_size":4294927,"file_name":"2026_PubAstronomicalSocietyPacific_Blomberg.pdf","date_created":"2026-10-12T08:12:05Z","access_level":"open_access","relation":"main_file","date_updated":"2026-10-12T08:12:05Z","checksum":"ca48567fc6bf68b73872bd551bd6b069"}],"quality_controlled":"1","article_type":"original","OA_type":"hybrid","supplementarymaterial":"yes","volume":138,"tmp":{"image":"/images/cc_by.png","short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"publication":"Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific","fulldoi":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19","publication_status":"published","arxiv":1,"type":"journal_article","issue":"2","status":"public","year":"2026","PlanS_conform":"1","researchdata_availability":"no","intvolume":"       138","date_published":"2026-02-01T00:00:00Z","oa":1,"date_created":"2026-10-04T22:01:56Z"}