Discovery of a brown dwarf companion to the A3V star β Circini
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Archivos
Fecha
2015-12
Profesor/a Guía
Facultad/escuela
Idioma
en
Título de la revista
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Título del volumen
Editor
Oxford University Press
Nombre de Curso
Licencia CC
Atribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Licencia CC
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
Resumen
We report the discovery of an L dwarf companion to the A3V star β Circini. VVV J151721.49−585131.5, or β Cir B, was identified in a proper motion and parallax catalogue of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea survey as having near-infrared luminosity and colour indicative of an early L dwarf, and a proper motion and parallax consistent with that of β Cir. The projected separation of ∼3.6 arcmin corresponds to 6656 au, which is unusually wide. The most recent published estimate of the age of the primary combined with our own estimate based on newer isochrones yields an age of 370–500 Myr. The system therefore serves as a useful benchmark at an age greater than that of the Pleiades brown dwarfs and most other young L dwarf benchmarks. We have obtained a medium resolution echelle spectrum of the companion which indicates a spectral type of L1.0 ± 0.5 and lacks the typical signatures of low-surface gravity seen in younger brown dwarfs. This suggests that signs of low-surface gravity disappear from the spectra of early L dwarfs by an age of ∼370–500 Myr, as expected from theoretical isochrones. The mass of β Cir B is estimated from the BHAC15 isochrones as 0.056 ± 0.007 M⊙.
Notas
Indexación: Scopus.
Palabras clave
Binaries: General, Brown Dwarfs, Stars: Individual: β Circini
Citación
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 454, Issue 4, Pages 4476 - 4483. 21 December 2015
DOI
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stv2290