A companion to AB Pic at the planet/brown dwarf boundary

G. Chauvin; A. M. Lagrange; B. Zuckerman; C. Dumas; D. Mouillet; I. Song; J. L. Beuzit; P. Lowrance; M. S. Bessell

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200500111

A companion to AB Pic at the planet/brown dwarf boundary

G. Chauvin^*, A. M. Lagrange, B. Zuckerman, C. Dumas, D. Mouillet, I. Song, J. L. Beuzit, P. Lowrance, M. S. Bessell

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

218 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report deep imaging observations of the young, nearby star AB Pic, a member of the large Tucana-Horologium association. We have detected a faint, red source 5.5″ South of the star with JHK colors compatible with that of a young substellar L dwarf. Follow-up observations at two additional epochs confirm, with a confidence level of 4.7σ, that the faint red object is a companion to AB Pic rather than it being a stationary background object. A low resolution K-band spectrum indicates an early-L spectral type for the companion. Finally, evolutionary model predictions based on the JHK photometry of AB Pic b indicate a mass of 13 to 14 M_Jup if its age is ∼30 Myr. Is AB Pic b a massive planet or a minimum mass brown dwarf?

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	L29-L32
Journal	Astronomy and Astrophysics
Volume	438
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200500111
Publication status	Published - Aug 2005

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title = "A companion to AB Pic at the planet/brown dwarf boundary",

abstract = "We report deep imaging observations of the young, nearby star AB Pic, a member of the large Tucana-Horologium association. We have detected a faint, red source 5.5″ South of the star with JHK colors compatible with that of a young substellar L dwarf. Follow-up observations at two additional epochs confirm, with a confidence level of 4.7σ, that the faint red object is a companion to AB Pic rather than it being a stationary background object. A low resolution K-band spectrum indicates an early-L spectral type for the companion. Finally, evolutionary model predictions based on the JHK photometry of AB Pic b indicate a mass of 13 to 14 MJup if its age is ∼30 Myr. Is AB Pic b a massive planet or a minimum mass brown dwarf?",

author = "G. Chauvin and Lagrange, {A. M.} and B. Zuckerman and C. Dumas and D. Mouillet and I. Song and Beuzit, {J. L.} and P. Lowrance and Bessell, {M. S.}",

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language = "English",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - A companion to AB Pic at the planet/brown dwarf boundary

AU - Chauvin, G.

AU - Lagrange, A. M.

AU - Zuckerman, B.

AU - Dumas, C.

AU - Mouillet, D.

AU - Song, I.

AU - Beuzit, J. L.

AU - Lowrance, P.

AU - Bessell, M. S.

PY - 2005/8

Y1 - 2005/8

N2 - We report deep imaging observations of the young, nearby star AB Pic, a member of the large Tucana-Horologium association. We have detected a faint, red source 5.5″ South of the star with JHK colors compatible with that of a young substellar L dwarf. Follow-up observations at two additional epochs confirm, with a confidence level of 4.7σ, that the faint red object is a companion to AB Pic rather than it being a stationary background object. A low resolution K-band spectrum indicates an early-L spectral type for the companion. Finally, evolutionary model predictions based on the JHK photometry of AB Pic b indicate a mass of 13 to 14 MJup if its age is ∼30 Myr. Is AB Pic b a massive planet or a minimum mass brown dwarf?

AB - We report deep imaging observations of the young, nearby star AB Pic, a member of the large Tucana-Horologium association. We have detected a faint, red source 5.5″ South of the star with JHK colors compatible with that of a young substellar L dwarf. Follow-up observations at two additional epochs confirm, with a confidence level of 4.7σ, that the faint red object is a companion to AB Pic rather than it being a stationary background object. A low resolution K-band spectrum indicates an early-L spectral type for the companion. Finally, evolutionary model predictions based on the JHK photometry of AB Pic b indicate a mass of 13 to 14 MJup if its age is ∼30 Myr. Is AB Pic b a massive planet or a minimum mass brown dwarf?

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U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361:200500111

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361:200500111

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 438

SP - L29-L32

JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics

IS - 3

ER -

A companion to AB Pic at the planet/brown dwarf boundary

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