THE GEMINI NICI PLANET-FINDING CAMPAIGN: DISCOVERY OF A MULTIPLE SYSTEM ORBITING THE YOUNG A STAR HD 1160

Journal Article · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/750/1/53· OSTI ID:22034603

Nielsen, Eric L; Liu, Michael C; Wahhaj, Zahed; Bowler, Brendan; Kraus, Adam; Chun, Mark; Ftaclas, Christ ^[1]; Biller, Beth A ^[2]; Hayward, Thomas L ^[3]; Boss, Alan ^[4]; Shkolnik, Evgenya L ^[5]; Tecza, Matthias; Clarke, Fraser ^[6]; Close, Laird M; Hartung, Markus; Males, Jared R; Skemer, Andrew J ^[7]; Reid, I Neill ^[8]; Alencar, Silvia H. P. ^[9]; Burrows, Adam ^[10] ; others, and

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1. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
2. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
3. Gemini Observatory, Southern Operations Center, c/o AURA, Casilla 603, La Serena (Chile)
4. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road, N.W., Washington, DC 20015 (United States)
5. Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States)
6. Department of Astronomy, University of Oxford, DWB, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
7. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
8. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
9. Departamento de Fisica, ICEx, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, 30270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)
10. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

We report the discovery of two low-mass companions to the young A0V star HD 1160 at projected separations of 81 {+-} 5 AU (HD 1160 B) and 533 {+-} 25 AU (HD 1160 C) by the Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign. Very Large Telescope images of the system taken over a decade for the purpose of using HD 1160 A as a photometric calibrator confirm that both companions are physically associated. By comparing the system to members of young moving groups and open clusters with well-established ages, we estimate an age of 50{sup +50}{sub -40} Myr for HD 1160 ABC. While the UVW motion of the system does not match any known moving group, the small magnitude of the space velocity is consistent with youth. Near-IR spectroscopy shows HD 1160 C to be an M3.5 {+-} 0.5 star with an estimated mass of 0.22{sup +0.03}{sub -0.04} M{sub Sun }, while NIR photometry of HD 1160 B suggests a brown dwarf with a mass of 33{sup +12}{sub -9} M{sub Jup}. The very small mass ratio (0.014) between the A and B components of the system is rare for A star binaries, and would represent a planetary-mass companion were HD 1160 A to be slightly less massive than the Sun.

• OSTI ID: 22034603
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 750, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
BINARY STARS
DETECTION
DWARF STARS
IMAGES
INFRARED SPECTRA
MASS
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
OPTICS
PHOTOMETRY
PLANETS
STAR CLUSTERS
TELESCOPES
VELOCITY