OGLE-2016-BLG-0693LB: Probing the Brown Dwarf Desert with Microlensing

OGLE-2016-BLG-0693LB: Probing the Brown Dwarf Desert with Microlensing

Authors:

Ryu et al

Abstract:

We present an analysis of microlensing event OGLE-2016-BLG-0693, based on the survey-only microlensing observations by the OGLE and KMTNet groups. In order to analyze the light curve, we consider the effects of parallax, orbital motion, and baseline slope, and also refine the result using a Galactic model prior. From the microlensing analysis, we find that the event is a binary composed of a low-mass brown dwarf (49+-20 MJ) companion and a K- or G-dwarf host, which lies at a distance 5.0+-0.6 kpc toward the Galactic bulge. The projected separation between the brown dwarf and its host star is less than ~5 AU, and thus it is likely that the brown dwarf companion is located in the brown dwarf desert.

M Dwarfs are Masquerading as Hot Jupiters and Brown Dwarfs

The EBLM Project IV. Spectroscopic orbits of over 100 eclipsing M dwarfs masquerading as transiting hot-Jupiters

Authors:

Amaury et al

Abstract:
We present 2271 radial velocity measurements taken on 118 single-line binary stars, taken over eight years with the CORALIE spectrograph. The binaries consist of F/G/K primaries and M-dwarf secondaries. They were initially discovered photometrically by the WASP planet survey, as their shallow eclipses mimic a hot-Jupiter transit. The observations we present permit a precise characterisation of the binary orbital elements and mass function. With modelling of the primary star this mass function is converted to a mass of the secondary star. In the future, this spectroscopic work will be combined with precise photometric eclipses to draw an empirical mass/radius relation for the bottom of the mass sequence. This has applications in both stellar astrophysics and the growing number of exoplanet surveys around M-dwarfs. In particular, we have discovered 34 systems with a secondary mass below 0.2M⊙, and so we will ultimately double the known number of very low-mass stars with well characterised mass and radii.

We are able to detect eccentricities as small as 0.001 and orbital periods to sub-second precision. Our sample can revisit some earlier work on the tidal evolution of close binaries, extending it to low mass ratios. We find some binaries that are eccentric at orbital periods < 3 days, while our longest circular orbit has a period of 10.4 days.

By collating the EBLM binaries with published WASP planets and brown dwarfs, we derive a mass spectrum with twice the resolution of previous work. We compare the WASP/EBLM sample of tightly-bound orbits with work in the literature on more distant companions up to 10 AU. We note that the brown dwarf desert appears wider, as it carves into the planetary domain for our short-period orbits. This would mean that a significantly reduced abundance of planets begins at ∼3MJup, well before the Deuterium-burning limit.

HIP 67537B: A Brown Dwarf in an Eccentric Orbit

An eccentric companion in the edge of the brown dwarf desert orbiting the 2.4 Msun giant star HIP67537

Authors:

Jones et al

Abstract:

We report the discovery of a substellar companion around the giant star HIP67537. Based on precision radial velocity measurements from CHIRON and FEROS high-resolution spectroscopic data, we derived the following orbital elements for HIP67537 b: mbsini = 11.1 ± 0.6 MJ, a = 5.0 ± 0.2 AU and e = 0.59 ± 0.04. Considering random inclination angles, this object has ≳ 65% probability to be above the theoretical deuterium-burning limit, thus it is one of the few known objects in the planet to brown-dwarf transition region. In addition, we analyzed the Hipparcos astrometric data of this star, from which we derived a minimum inclination angle for the companion of 3 degrees. This value corresponds to an upper mass limit of 0.22 M⊙, therefore the probability that HIP67537 b is stellar in nature is only ∼ 6%. The large mass of the host star and the high orbital eccentricity makes HIP67537 b a very interesting and rare substellar objects. This is the second companion in the "brown dwarf desert" among our sample of EXPRESS intermediate-mass stars, corresponding to a detection fraction of f = 1.6+2.0−0.5%. This value is larger than the fraction observed in solar-type stars, providing further observational evidence of the enhanced formation efficiency of very massive planets and low-mass brown dwarfs in massive disks. Finally, we speculate about different formation channels for objects like HIP67537 b and HIP97233 b

EPIC 219388192B: a hot Brown Dwarfin a 5.3 day Orbit

EPIC 219388192 b - an inhabitant of the brown dwarf desert in the Ruprecht 147 open cluster

Authors:

Nowak et al

Abstract:

We report the discovery of EPIC 219388192 b, a transiting brown dwarf in a 5.3-day orbit around a member star of Ruprecht-147, the oldest nearby open cluster association, which was photometrically monitored by K2 during its Campaign 7. We combine the K2 time-series data with ground-based adaptive optics imaging and high resolution spectroscopy to rule out false positive scenarios and determine the main parameters of the system. EPIC 219388192 b has a radius of Rb=0.937±0.042~RJup and mass of Mb=36.50±0.09~MJup, yielding a mean density of 59.0±8.1~gcm−3. The host star is nearly a Solar twin with mass M⋆=0.99±0.05~M⊙, radius R⋆=1.01±0.04~R⊙, effective temperature Teff=5850±85~K and iron abundance [Fe/H]=0.03±0.08~dex. Its age, spectroscopic distance, and reddening are consistent with those of Ruprecht-147, corroborating its cluster membership. EPIC 219388192 b is the first brown dwarf with precise determinations of mass, radius and age, and serves as benchmark for evolutionary models in the sub-stellar regime.

Hunting for Candidates in the Brown Dwarf Desert

The SOPHIE search for northern extrasolar planets IX. Populating the brown dwarf desert

Authors:

Wilson et al

Abstract:

Radial velocity planet search surveys of nearby Solar-type stars have shown a strong deficit of brown dwarf companions within ∼5AU. There is presently no comprehensive explanation of this lack of brown dwarf companions, therefore, increasing the sample of such objects is crucial to understand their formation and evolution. Based on precise radial velocities obtained using the SOPHIE spectrograph at Observatoire de Haute-Provence we characterise the orbital parameters of 15 companions to solar-type stars and constrain their true mass using astrometric data from the Hipparcos space mission. The nine companions not shown to be stellar in nature have minimum masses ranging from ~13 to 70MJup, and are well distributed across the planet/brown dwarf mass regime, making them an important contribution to the known population of massive companions around solar-type stars. We characterise six companions as stellar in nature with masses ranging from a minimum mass of 76±4MJup to a mass of 0.35±0.03M⊙. The orbital parameters of two previously known sub-stellar candidates are improved.

A0V Star HR3549A has a Brown Dwarf Companion

Discovery of a low-mass companion around HR3549

Authors:

Mawet et al

Abstract:

We report the discovery of a low-mass companion to HR3549, an A0V star surrounded by a debris disk with a warm excess detected by WISE at 22 μm (10σ significance). We imaged HR3549 B in the L-band with NAOS-CONICA, the adaptive optics infrared camera of the Very Large Telescope, in January 2013 and confirmed its common proper motion in January 2015. The companion is at a projected separation of ≃80 AU and position angle of ≃157∘, so it is orbiting well beyond the warm disk inner edge of r>10 AU. Our age estimate for this system corresponds to a companion mass in the range 15-80 MJ, spanning the brown dwarf regime, and so HR3549 B is another recent addition to the growing list of brown dwarf desert objects with extreme mass ratios. The simultaneous presence of a warm disk and a brown dwarf around HR3549 provides interesting empirical constraints on models of the formation of substellar companions.

CoRoT-33B: a "hot" 59 Jupiter Mass Brown Dwarf Orbiting a G9V Star Every 5.82 Days

Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission XXVIII. CoRoT-33b, an object in the brown dwarf desert with 2:3 commensurability with its host star

Authors:

Csizmadia et al

Abstract:

We report the detection of a rare transiting brown dwarf with a mass of 59 M_Jup and radius of 1.1 R_Jup around the metal-rich, [Fe/H] = +0.44, G9V star CoRoT-33. The orbit is eccentric (e = 0.07) with a period of 5.82 d. The companion, CoRoT-33b, is thus a new member in the so-called brown dwarf desert. The orbital period is within 3% to a 3:2 resonance with the rotational period of the star. CoRoT-33b may be an important test case for tidal evolution studies. The true frequency of brown dwarfs close to their host stars (P less than 10 d) is estimated to be approximately 0.2% which is about six times smaller than the frequency of hot Jupiters in the same period range. We suspect that the frequency of brown dwarfs declines faster with decreasing period than that of giant planets.

MOA-2007-BLG-197Lb: The First Brown Dwarf Companion to a Sun-like Star

MOA-2007-BLG-197: Exploring the brown dwarf desert

Authors:

Ranc et al

Abstract:

We present the analysis of MOA-2007-BLG-197Lb, the first brown dwarf companion to a Sun-like star detected through gravitational microlensing. The event was alerted and followed-up photometrically by a network of telescopes from the PLANET, MOA, and uFUN collaborations, and observed at high angular resolution using the NaCo instrument at the VLT. From the modelling of the microlensing light curve, we derived the binary lens separation in Einstein radius units (s~1.13) and a mass ratio of (4.732+/-0.020)x10^{-2}. Annual parallax, lens orbital motion and finite source effects were included in the models. To recover the lens system's physical parameters, we combined the resulting light curve best-fit parameters with (J,H,Ks) magnitudes obtained with VLT NaCo and calibrated using IRSF and 2MASS data. We derived a lens total mass of 0.86+/-0.04 Msun and a lens distance of 4.2+/-0.3 kpc. We find that the companion of MOA-2007-BLG-197L is a brown dwarf of 41+/-2 Mjup observed at a projected separation of 4.3+/-0.1 AU, and orbits a 0.82+/-0.04 Msun G-K dwarf star. We study the statistical properties of this population of brown dwarfs detected by microlensing, transit, radial velocity, and direct imaging (most of these objects orbit solar-type stars), and we performed a two-dimensional, non-parametric probability density distribution fit to the data, which draws a structured brown dwarf landscape. We confirm the existence of a region that is strongly depleted in objects at short periods and intermediate masses (P less than 30 d, M~30-60 Mjup), but also find an accumulation of objects around P~500 d and M~20 Mjup, as well as another depletion region at long orbital periods (P greater than 500 d) and high masses (M greater than 50 Mjup). While these data provide important clues on mechanisms of brown dwarfs formation, more data are needed to establish their relative importance, in particular as a function of host star mass.