Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Dec 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004aas...205.2905m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society Meeting 205, #29.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 36, p.1394
Physics
Optics
Scientific paper
We present first results from a coronagraphic survey of young nearby stars using the Palomar and Keck adaptive optics systems. The survey targets approximately 100 solar-type (F5--K5) stars at 20--160 pc from the Sun, spanning the 3--500 Myr age range, and is conducted in coordination with the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems Spitzer Legacy program. The survey is sensitive to sub-stellar companions at separations >0.5″ from their host stars, with sensitivity extending to planetary-mass (5--15 Mjup) objects at wider (>3″ ) separations. From multi-epoch astrometric and spectroscopic observations, we have discovered and confirmed a L4 brown dwarf companion at a projected separation of 44 AU from a star in our sample. Because of its association with a young main sequence star, it is a member of a very limited list of known young (<1 Gyr) L or T dwarfs, and as such can be used to constrain evolutionary models of ultra-cool objects. Over 200 other candidate companions within 13″ (2100 AU) identified from first-epoch direct imaging await confirmation. Based on the single confirmed detection, a preliminary estimate of the frequency of massive (>40 Mjup) brown dwarf companions at 40--200 AU separations is ≈1%. After taking into account the effects of the age and distance distributions of the sample, and of other observational biases, the estimated sub-stellar companion fraction is expected to be a factor of several higher.
The research presented here is supported by funding from NASA and NSF.
Hillenbrand Lynne A.
Metchev Stanimir A.
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