NLTT 41135: A field M dwarf+ brown dwarf eclipsing binary in a triple system, discovered by the mearth observatory

J. Irwin...[et al.]; Lars C. Astrup Buchhave; Z. K. Berta; D. Charbonneau

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1353

NLTT 41135: A field M dwarf+ brown dwarf eclipsing binary in a triple system, discovered by the mearth observatory

J. Irwin...[et al.], Lars C. Astrup Buchhave, Z. K. Berta, D. Charbonneau

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Abstract

We report the discovery of an eclipsing companion to NLTT 41135, a nearby M5 dwarf that was already known to have a wider, slightly more massive common proper motion companion, NLTT 41136, at 24 separation. Analysis of combined-light and RV curves of the system indicates that NLTT 41135B is a (31-34) ± 3M Jup brown dwarf (where the range depends on the unknown metallicity of the host star) on a circular orbit. The visual M dwarf pair appears to be physically bound, so the system forms a hierarchical triple, with masses approximately in the ratio 8:6:1. The eclipses are grazing, preventing an unambiguous measurement of the secondary radius, but follow-up observations of the secondary eclipse (e.g., with the James Webb Space Telescope) could permit measurements of the surface brightness ratio between the two objects, and thus place constraints on models of brown dwarfs.

Original language	English
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	718
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	1353-1368
Number of pages	15
ISSN	0004-637X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1353
Publication status	Published - 14 Jul 2010

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10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1353

Cite this

@article{33867d817ff146e0959288ba629b2de9,

title = "NLTT 41135: A field M dwarf+ brown dwarf eclipsing binary in a triple system, discovered by the mearth observatory",

abstract = "We report the discovery of an eclipsing companion to NLTT 41135, a nearby M5 dwarf that was already known to have a wider, slightly more massive common proper motion companion, NLTT 41136, at 24 separation. Analysis of combined-light and RV curves of the system indicates that NLTT 41135B is a (31-34) ± 3M Jup brown dwarf (where the range depends on the unknown metallicity of the host star) on a circular orbit. The visual M dwarf pair appears to be physically bound, so the system forms a hierarchical triple, with masses approximately in the ratio 8:6:1. The eclipses are grazing, preventing an unambiguous measurement of the secondary radius, but follow-up observations of the secondary eclipse (e.g., with the James Webb Space Telescope) could permit measurements of the surface brightness ratio between the two objects, and thus place constraints on models of brown dwarfs. ",

author = "{Irwin...[et al.]}, J. and Buchhave, {Lars C. Astrup} and Berta, {Z. K.} and D. Charbonneau",

year = "2010",

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doi = "10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1353",

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T1 - NLTT 41135

T2 - A field M dwarf+ brown dwarf eclipsing binary in a triple system, discovered by the mearth observatory

AU - Irwin...[et al.], J.

AU - Buchhave, Lars C. Astrup

AU - Berta, Z. K.

AU - Charbonneau, D.

PY - 2010/7/14

Y1 - 2010/7/14

N2 - We report the discovery of an eclipsing companion to NLTT 41135, a nearby M5 dwarf that was already known to have a wider, slightly more massive common proper motion companion, NLTT 41136, at 24 separation. Analysis of combined-light and RV curves of the system indicates that NLTT 41135B is a (31-34) ± 3M Jup brown dwarf (where the range depends on the unknown metallicity of the host star) on a circular orbit. The visual M dwarf pair appears to be physically bound, so the system forms a hierarchical triple, with masses approximately in the ratio 8:6:1. The eclipses are grazing, preventing an unambiguous measurement of the secondary radius, but follow-up observations of the secondary eclipse (e.g., with the James Webb Space Telescope) could permit measurements of the surface brightness ratio between the two objects, and thus place constraints on models of brown dwarfs.

AB - We report the discovery of an eclipsing companion to NLTT 41135, a nearby M5 dwarf that was already known to have a wider, slightly more massive common proper motion companion, NLTT 41136, at 24 separation. Analysis of combined-light and RV curves of the system indicates that NLTT 41135B is a (31-34) ± 3M Jup brown dwarf (where the range depends on the unknown metallicity of the host star) on a circular orbit. The visual M dwarf pair appears to be physically bound, so the system forms a hierarchical triple, with masses approximately in the ratio 8:6:1. The eclipses are grazing, preventing an unambiguous measurement of the secondary radius, but follow-up observations of the secondary eclipse (e.g., with the James Webb Space Telescope) could permit measurements of the surface brightness ratio between the two objects, and thus place constraints on models of brown dwarfs.

U2 - 10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1353

DO - 10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1353

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 718

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EP - 1368

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

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