No Arabic abstract
We imaged five objects near the star forming clouds of Ophiuchus with the Keck Laser Guide Star AO system. We resolved Allers et al. (2006)s #11 (Oph 16222-2405) and #16 (Oph 16233-2402) into binary systems. The #11 object is resolved into a 243 AU binary, the widest known for a very low mass (VLM) binary. The binary nature of #11 was discovered first by Allers (2005) and independently here during which we obtained the first spatially resolved R~2000 near-infrared (J & K) spectra, mid-IR photometry, and orbital motion estimates. We estimate for 11A and 11B gravities (log(g)>3.75), ages (5+/-2 Myr), luminosities (log(L/Lsun)=-2.77+/-0.10 and -2.96+/-0.10), and temperatures (Teff=2375+/-175 and 2175+/-175 K). We find self-consistent DUSTY evolutionary model (Chabrier et al. 2000) masses of 17+4-5 MJup and 14+6-5 MJup, for 11A and 11B respectively. Our masses are higher than those previously reported (13-15 MJup and 7-8 MJup) by Jayawardhana & Ivanov (2006b). Hence, we find the system is unlikely a ``planetary mass binary, (in agreement with Luhman et al. 2007) but it has the second lowest mass and lowest binding energy of any known binary. Oph #11 and Oph #16 belong to a newly recognized population of wide (>100 AU), young (<10 Myr), roughly equal mass, VLM stellar and brown dwarf binaries. We deduce that ~6+/-3% of young (<10 Myr) VLM objects are in such wide systems. However, only 0.3+/-0.1% of old field VLM objects are found in such wide systems. Thus, young, wide, VLM binary populations may be evaporating, due to stellar encounters in their natal clusters, leading to a field population depleted in wide VLM systems.
We present an analysis of the mass and age of the young low-mass binary Oph 1622-2405. Using resolved optical spectroscopy of the binary, we measure spectral types of M7.25+/-0.25 and M8.75+/-0.25 for the A and B components, respectively. We show that our spectra are inconsistent with the spectral types of M9 and M9.5-L0 from Jayawardhana & Ivanov and M9+/-0.5 and M9.5+/-0.5 from Close and coworkers. Based on our spectral types and the theoretical evolutionary models of Chabrier and Baraffe, we estimate masses of 0.055 and 0.019 Msun for Oph 1622-2405A and B, which are significantly higher than the values of 0.013 and 0.007 Msun derived by Jayawardhana & Ivanov and above the range of masses observed for extrasolar planets (M<=0.015 Msun). Planet-like mass estimates are further contradicted by our demonstration that Oph 1622-2405A is only slightly later (by 0.5 subclass) than the composite of the young eclipsing binary brown dwarf 2M 0535-0546, whose components have dynamical masses of 0.034 and 0.054 Msun. To constrain the age of Oph 1622-2405, we compare the strengths of gravity-sensitive absorption lines in optical and near-infrared spectra of the primary to lines in field dwarfs (>1 Gyr) and members of Taurus (~1 Myr) and Upper Scorpius (~5 Myr). The line strengths for Oph 1622-2405A are inconsistent with membership in Ophiuchus (<1 Myr) and instead indicate an age similar to that of Upper Sco, which is agreement with a similar analysis performed by Close and coworkers. We conclude that Oph 1622-2405 is part of an older population in Sco-Cen, perhaps Upper Sco itself.
We present the discovery of a planetary-mass companion to CFHTWIR-Oph 98, a low-mass brown dwarf member of the young Ophiuchus star-forming region, with a wide 200-au separation (1.46 arcsec). The companion was identified using Hubble Space Telescope images, and confirmed to share common proper motion with the primary using archival and new ground-based observations. Based on the very low probability of the components being unrelated Ophiuchus members, we conclude that Oph 98 AB forms a binary system. From our multi-band photometry, we constrain the primary to be an M9-L1 dwarf, and the faint companion to have an L2-L6 spectral type. For a median age of 3 Myr for Ophiuchus, fits of evolutionary models to measured luminosities yield masses of $15.4pm0.8$ M$_mathrm{Jup}$ for Oph 98 A and $7.8pm0.8$ M$_mathrm{Jup}$ for Oph 98 B, with respective effective temperatures of $2320pm40$ K and $1800pm40$ K. For possible system ages of 1-7 Myr, masses could range from 9.6-18.4 M$_mathrm{Jup}$ for the primary, and from 4.1-11.6 M$_mathrm{Jup}$ for the secondary. The low component masses and very large separation make this binary the lowest binding energy system imaged to date, indicating that the outcome of low-mass star formation can result in such extreme, weakly-bound systems. With such a young age, Oph 98 AB extends the growing population of young free-floating planetary-mass objects, offering a new benchmark to refine formation theories at the lowest masses.
We present the results of a deep-imaging search for wide companions to low-mass stars and brown dwarfs using NSFCam on IRTF. We searched a sample of 132 M7-L8 dwarfs to magnitude limits of $J sim 20.5$ and $K sim 18.5$, corresponding to secondary-primary mass ratios of $sim 0.5$. No companions were found with separations between $2{arcsec}$ to $31{arcsec}$ ($sim$40 AU to $sim$1000 AU). This null result implies a wide companion frequency below 2.3% at the 95% confidence level within the sensitivity limits of the survey. Preliminary modeling efforts indicate that we could have detected 85% of companions more massive than $0.05 M_{odot}$ and 50% above $0.03 M_{odot}$.
We look for wide, faint companions around members of the 5 Myr Lambda Orionis open cluster. We used optical, near-infrared, and Spitzer/IRAC photometry. We report the discovery of a very wide very low mass visual binary, LOri167, formed by a brown dwarf and a planetary-mass candidate located at 5 arcsec, which seems to belong to the cluster. We derive Teff of 2125 and 1750 K. If they are members, comparisons with theoretical models indicate masses of 17 (20-15) Mjup and 8 (13-7) Mjup, with a projected separation of 2000 AU. Such a binary system would be difficult to explain in most models, particularly those where substellar objects form in the disks surrounding higher mass stars.
We identify 806 ultra-cool dwarfs from their SDSS riz photometry (of which 34 are newly discovered L dwarfs) and obtain proper motions through cross matching with UKIDSS and 2MASS. Proper motion and distance constraints show that nine of our ultra-cool dwarfs are members of widely separated binary systems; SDSS 0101 (K5V+M9.5V), SDSS 0207 (M1.5V+L3V), SDSS 0832 (K3III+L3.5V), SDSS 0858 (M4V+L0V), SDSS 0953 (M4V+M9.5V), SDSS 0956 (M2V+M9V), SDSS 1304 (M4.5V+L0V), SDSS 1631 (M5.5V+M8V), SDSS 1638 (M4V+L0V). One of these (SDSS 0832) is shown to be a companion to the bright K3 giant Eta Cancri. Such primaries can provide age and metallicity constraints for any companion objects, yielding excellent benchmark objects. Eta Cancri AB is the first wide ultra-cool dwarf + giant binary system identified. We present new observations and analysis that constrain the metallicity of Eta Cancri A to be near solar, and use recent evolutionary models to constrain the age of the giant to be 2.2-6.1 Gyr. If Eta Cancri B is a single object, we estimate its physical attributes to be; mass = 63-82 M_Jup, T_eff = 1800+/-150 K, log g = 5.3-5.5, [M/H] = 0.0+/-0.1. Its colours are non typical when compared to other ultra-cool dwarfs, and we also assess the possibility that Eta Cancri B is itself an unresolved binary, showing that the combined light of an L4 + T4 system could provide a reasonable explanation for its colours.