THE GEMINI NICI PLANET-FINDING CAMPAIGN: DISCOVERY OF A CLOSE SUBSTELLAR COMPANION TO THE YOUNG DEBRIS DISK STAR PZ Tel
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
- Gemini Observatory, Southern Operations Center, c/o AURA, Casilla 603, La Serena (Chile)
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
- Institute for Astronomy, 640 North Aohoku Place, 209, Hilo, HI 96720-2700 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Oxford, DWB, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
- Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
- Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road, NW, Washington, DC 20015 (United States)
- Departamento de Fisica-ICEx-Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, 30270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)
- University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4 (Canada)
We report the discovery of a tight substellar companion to the young solar analog PZ Tel, a member of the {beta} Pic moving group observed with high-contrast adaptive optics imaging as part of the Gemini Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager Planet-Finding Campaign. The companion was detected at a projected separation of 16.4 {+-} 1.0 AU (0.''33 {+-} 0.''01) in 2009 April. Second-epoch observations in 2010 May demonstrate that the companion is physically associated and shows significant orbital motion. Monte Carlo modeling constrains the orbit of PZ Tel B to eccentricities >0.6. The near-IR colors of PZ Tel B indicate a spectral type of M7 {+-} 2 and thus this object will be a new benchmark companion for studies of ultracool, low-gravity photospheres. Adopting an age of 12{sup +8} {sub -4} Myr for the system, we estimate a mass of 36 {+-} 6 M {sub Jup} based on the Lyon/DUSTY evolutionary models. PZ Tel B is one of the few young substellar companions directly imaged at orbital separations similar to those of giant planets in our own solar system. Additionally, the primary star PZ Tel A shows a 70 {mu}m emission excess, evidence for a significant quantity of circumstellar dust that has not been disrupted by the orbital motion of the companion.
- OSTI ID:
- 21452840
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 720, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/720/1/L82; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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