Discovery of Seven Companions to Intermediate Mass Stars with Extreme Mass Ratios in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association

We report the detection of seven low mass companions to intermediate-mass stars (SpT B/A/F; $M$$approx$1.5-4.5 solar masses) in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association using nonredundant aperture masking interferometry. Our newly detected objects have contrasts $Delta L$$approx$4-6, corresponding to masses as low as $sim$20 Jupiter masses and mass ratios of $q$$approx$0.01-0.08, depending on the assumed age of the target stars. With projected separations $rho$$approx$10-30 AU, our aperture masking detections sample an orbital region previously unprobed by conventional adaptive optics imaging of intermediate mass Scorpius-Centaurus stars covering much larger orbital radii ($approx$30-3000 AU). At such orbital separations, these objects resemble higher ma