Astronomy:UScoCTIO 108

From HandWiki
Short description: Binary star system
UScoCTIO 108
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0   Equinox (celestial coordinates)
Constellation Scorpius
Right ascension  16h 05m 53.94s[1]
Declination −18° 18′ 42.7″[1]
Characteristics
Spectral type M7[2]+M9.5
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ) RA: -7.4 ± 4.6[3] mas/yr
Dec.: -20.4 ± 4.6[3] mas/yr
Distance473 ± 6 ly
(145 ± 2[2] pc)
Details
A
Mass0.057 ± 0.019[2] M
Radius0.46 R
Luminosity0.011+0.06−0.03[2] L
Temperature2700 ± 100[2] K
Age11 Myr
B
Mass14 MJup
Temperature2300 K
Database references
SIMBADdata
UScoCTIO 108B
Orbit UScoCTIO 108 b.png
UScoCTIO 108 B's orbit
Position (relative to A)
Epoch of observationJ2007.5
Angular distance4.6 ± 0.1 [2]
Position angle177 ± 1° [2]
Observed separation
(projected)
~670 AU [2]
Characteristics
Spectral type M9.5 ± 0.5[4]
Details
Mass0.015+0.009−0.004[4] M
Mass15.789473676316 MJup
Radius0.16 ± 0.01[4] R
Radius1.556895876 RJup
Luminosity0.00065 ± 0.00007[4] L
Surface gravity (log g)4.0 ± 0.5[4] cgs
Temperature2300 ± 100[4] K
Orbit
PrimaryUScoCTIO 108 A
Semi-major axis (a)670 AU
Other designations
UscoCTIO 108b[5]
Database references
SIMBADdata

UScoCTIO 108 is a binary system, approximately 470 light-years away in the Upper Scorpius (USco) OB association. The primary, UScoCTIO 108A, with mass around 0.06 solar masses, is a brown dwarf or low-mass red dwarf. The secondary, UScoCTIO 108B, with a mass around the deuterium burning limit of 13 Jupiter masses, would be classified as either a brown dwarf or an extrasolar planet.[2]

The primary component of the system was discovered in 2000 as a possible member of the Upper Scorpius association, based on its position in a HR diagram, in a search for new member of the association by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), where it received the designation UScoCTIO 108.[6] Later, spectroscopic and photometric observations confirmed that the object is a real member of the association, showing signs of low gravity and youth, and estimated a mass of 60 times the mass of Jupiter (MJ), an effective temperature of 2,800 K and a spectral type of M7. The low mass indicates that the object is not able to sustain hydrogen fusion, making it a brown dwarf.[2]

The secondary member of the system was found in 2008 as an object located at a separation of 4.6 arcseconds, which corresponds to a physical separation of more than 670 AU, and is also a confirmed member of the Upper Scorpius association.[2] Its spectrum shows it is also a cold substellar object, with an effective temperature of 2,300 K and a spectral type of M9.5.[4] Its mass was originally estimated at 14 MJ,[2] very close to the nominal boundary between planets and brown dwarf, but a recent revision of the age of the Upper Scorpius association to 11 million years increased this value to 16 MJ, indicating that the object is likely a low mass brown dwarf.[7] The physical association between the two brown dwarfs has not been confirmed by observation of common proper motion, but is considered very likely given the proximity between them.[2][3]

The minimum separation between the two brown dwarfs, 670 AU, is much larger than the mean of other similar mass systems, and indicates that the pair (if they really form a binary system) is very weakly bound, with an escape velocity for the secondary component of only 0.4 km/s. Considering the average stellar density in an association like Upper Scorpius, it is estimated that perturbations by passing stars will cause the rupture of the system in a few million years.[2]

Observations by the infrared telescope WISE revealed excess emission at 12 and 22 μm, indicating the presence of a debris disk around the brown dwarf.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 UScoCTIO 108, entry, SIMBAD. Accessed on line June 17, 2008.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 V. J. S. Bejar; M. R. Zapatero Osorio; A. Perez-Garrido; C. Álvarez et al. (February 2008). "Discovery of a Wide Companion near the Deuterium-burning Mass Limit in the Upper Scorpius Association". Astrophysical Journal 673 (2): L185–L189. doi:10.1086/527557. Bibcode2008ApJ...673L.185B. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ginski, C. (November 2014). "Astrometric follow-up observations of directly imaged sub-stellar companions to young stars and brown dwarfs". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 444 (3): 2280–2302. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu1586. Bibcode2014MNRAS.444.2280G. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Bonnefoy, M. (February 2014). "A library of near-infrared integral field spectra of young M-L dwarfs". Astronomy & Astrophysics 562: A127, 26 pp. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201118270. Bibcode2014A&A...562A.127B. 
  5. NAME UScoCTIO 108b, entry, SIMBAD. Accessed on line June 17, 2008.
  6. Ardila, David; Martín, Eduardo; Basri, Gibor (July 2000). "A Survey for Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs in the Upper Scorpius OB Association". The Astronomical Journal 120 (1): 479–487. doi:10.1086/301443. Bibcode2000AJ....120..479A. 
  7. Pecaut, Mark J.; Mamajek, Eric E.; Bubar, Eric J. (February 2012). "A Revised Age for Upper Scorpius and the Star Formation History among the F-type Members of the Scorpius–Centaurus OB Association". The Astrophysical Journal 746 (2): article 154, 22 pp. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/746/2/154. Bibcode2012ApJ...746..154P. 
  8. Morales, Farisa Y.; Padgett, D. L.; Bryden, G.; Werner, M. W.; Furlan, E. (September 2012). "WISE Detections of Dust in the Habitable Zones of Planet-bearing Stars". The Astrophysical Journal 757 (1): artigo 7, 6 pp. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/757/1/7. Bibcode2012ApJ...757....7M. 

External links