THE TRENDS HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGING SURVEY. III. A FAINT WHITE DWARF COMPANION ORBITING HD 114174
- Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)
- Department of Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 (United States)
The nearby Sun-like star HD 114174 exhibits a strong and persistent Doppler acceleration indicating the presence of an unseen distant companion. We have acquired high-contrast imaging observations of this star using NIRC2 at Keck and report the direct detection of the body responsible for causing the ''trend''. HD 114174 B has a projected separation of 692 {+-} 9 mas (18.1 AU) and is 10.75 {+-} 0.12 mag (contrast of 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5}) fainter than its host in the K-band, requiring aggressive point-spread function subtraction to identify. Our astrometric time baseline of 1.4 yr demonstrates physical association through common proper motion. We find that the companion has absolute magnitude, M{sub J} = 13.97 {+-} 0.11, and colors, J - K = 0.12 {+-} 0.16 mag. These characteristics are consistent with an Almost-Equal-To T3 dwarf, initially leading us to believe that HD 114174 B was a substellar object. However, a dynamical analysis that combines radial velocity measurements with available imaging data indicates a minimum mass of 0.260 {+-} 0.010 M{sub Sun }. We conclude that HD 114174 B must be a white dwarf. Assuming a hydrogen-rich composition, atmospheric and evolutionary model fits yield an effective temperature T{sub eff} = 8200 {+-} 4000 K, surface gravity log g = 8.90 {+-} 0.02, and cooling age of t{sub c} Almost-Equal-To 3.4 Gyr, which is consistent with the 4.7{sup +2.3}{sub -2.6} Gyr host star isochronal age estimate. HD 114174 B is a benchmark object located only 26.14 {+-} 0.37 pc from the Sun. It may be studied at a level of detail comparable to Sirius and Procyon, and used to understand the link between the mass of white dwarf remnants with that of their progenitors.
- OSTI ID:
- 22134000
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 774, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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