No "hot" Jupiters Around Brown Dwarf Binary Luhman 16AB

Mass ratio of the 2 pc binary brown dwarf LUH16 and limits on planetary companions from astrometry

Authors:

Sahlmann et al

Abstract:

We analyse FORS2/VLT I-band imaging data to monitor the motions of both components in the most nearby known binary brown dwarf WISE J104915.57-531906.1AB (LUH16) over one year. The astrometry is dominated by parallax and proper motion, but with a precision of ∼0.2 milli-arcsecond per epoch we accurately measure the relative position change caused by the orbital motion of the pair. This allows us to directly determine a mass ratio of q=0.78±0.10 for this system. We also search for the signature of a planetary-mass companion around either of the A and B component and exclude at 3-σ the presence of planets with masses larger than 2MJup and orbital periods of 20-300 d. We update the parallax of LUH16 to 500.51±0.11 mas, i.e. just within 2 pc. This study yields the first direct constraint on the mass ratio of LUH16 and shows that the system does not harbour any close-in giant planets.