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The cool brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is a close binary.

Jerry W Xuan1, A Mérand2, W Thompson3

  • 1Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. wxuan@caltech.edu.

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|October 16, 2024
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Brown dwarf companions to stars, similar to giant planets, challenge formation theories. Observations reveal Gliese 229B is actually a binary system, Gliese 229BaBb, resolving discrepancies and raising new questions about binary brown dwarf formation.

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Area of Science:

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Exoplanetary Science
  • Stellar and Sub-stellar Object Formation

Background:

  • Brown dwarf companions offer insights into planet formation and evolution due to similarities with giant exoplanets.
  • Several brown dwarfs are more massive than predicted by luminosity and host star age, suggesting incomplete theories or multiple components.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the discrepancy between theoretical predictions and observed masses of brown dwarf companions, specifically Gliese 229B.
  • To resolve the apparent single object Gliese 229B into its constituent components, if any.

Main Methods:

  • Observations of Gliese 229B using the GRAVITY interferometer.
  • Independent observations using the CRIRES+ spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope.

Main Results:

  • Both observation sets resolved Gliese 229B into two components: Gliese 229Ba and Gliese 229Bb.
  • The components have masses of 38.1 ± 1.0 and 34.4 ± 1.5 Jupiter masses (MJup), respectively.
  • They orbit each other with a period of 12.1 days and a semimajor axis of 0.042 AU.

Conclusions:

  • The discovery of the binary brown dwarf system Gliese 229BaBb resolves the conflict between theoretical models and observational data.
  • This finding prompts new questions regarding the formation mechanisms and prevalence of compact binary brown dwarf systems around stars.