Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-12-20
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
10 pages, including 4 figures and 2 tables
Scientific paper
10.1086/527557
We present the discovery of a companion near the deuterium burning mass limit located at a very wide distance, at an angular separation of 4.6+/-0.1 arcsec (projected distance of ~ 670 AU) from UScoCTIO108, a brown dwarf of the very young Upper Scorpius association. Optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy confirm the cool nature of both objects, with spectral types of M7 and M9.5, respectively, and that they are bona fide members of the association, showing low gravity and features of youth. Their masses, estimated from the comparison of their bolometric luminosities and theoretical models for the age range of the association, are 60+/-20 and 14^{+2}_{-8} MJup, respectively. The existence of this object around a brown dwarf at this wide orbit suggests that the companion is unlikely to have formed in a disk based on current planet formation models. Because this system is rather weakly bound, they did not probably form through dynamical ejection of stellar embryos.
Alvarez Carlos
Bejar Víctor J. S.
Diaz-Sanchez Anastasio
Martin Eduardo L.
Perez--Garrido Antonio
No associations
LandOfFree
Discovery of a wide companion near the deuterium burning mass limit in the Upper Scorpius association does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Discovery of a wide companion near the deuterium burning mass limit in the Upper Scorpius association, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Discovery of a wide companion near the deuterium burning mass limit in the Upper Scorpius association will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-3488