---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '23053'
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.
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)."
article_number: '024202'
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Lisa
full_name: Blomberg, Lisa
last_name: Blomberg
- first_name: Kareem
full_name: El-Badry, Kareem
last_name: El-Badry
- first_name: Bethany
full_name: Ludwig, Bethany
last_name: Ludwig
- first_name: Maria R.
full_name: Drout, Maria R.
last_name: Drout
- first_name: Ylva Louise Linsdotter
full_name: Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter
id: d0648d0c-0f64-11ee-a2e0-dd0faa2e4f7d
last_name: Götberg
orcid: 0000-0002-6960-6911
citation:
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. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
2026;138(2). doi:10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19'
apa: 'Blomberg, L., El-Badry, K., Ludwig, B., Drout, M. R., & Götberg, Y. L.
L. (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. IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19'
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.” Publications
of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. IOP Publishing, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19.'
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,” Publications of the Astronomical Society of the
Pacific, 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.'
mla: 'Blomberg, Lisa, et al. “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, vol. 138, no. 2, 024202, IOP Publishing,
2026, doi:10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19.'
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).
das_tickbox: '1'
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)."
date_created: 2026-10-04T22:01:56Z
date_published: 2026-02-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-10-12T08:13:30Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '520'
department:
- _id: YlGo
doi: 10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19
external_id:
arxiv:
- '2510.18965'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: ca48567fc6bf68b73872bd551bd6b069
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2026-10-12T08:12:05Z
date_updated: 2026-10-12T08:12:05Z
file_id: '23102'
file_name: 2026_PubAstronomicalSocietyPacific_Blomberg.pdf
file_size: 4294927
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2026-10-12T08:12:05Z
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ae3a19
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 138'
issue: '2'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '02'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1538-3873
issn:
- 0004-6280
publication_status: published
publisher: IOP Publishing
quality_controlled: '1'
researchdata_availability: no
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: yes
title: 'Intermediate-mass stripped stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Forward modeling
the observed population discovered via UV excess'
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 138
year: '2026'
...