WASP-30b: A 61 M{sub Jup} BROWN DWARF TRANSITING A V = 12, F8 STAR

Journal Article · Mon Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/726/2/L19· OSTI ID:21560575

Anderson, D R; Hellier, C; Maxted, P F. L.; Smalley, B; Smith, A M. S. ^[1]; Collier Cameron, A; Enoch, B ^[2]; Lendl, M; Queloz, D; Pepe, F; Segransan, D; Udry, S ^[3]; Pollacco, D; Todd, I; Barros, S C. C. ^[4]; West, R G ^[5]; Gillon, M ^[6]; Lister, T A

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1. Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG (United Kingdom)
2. SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, Fife, KY16 9SS (United Kingdom)
3. Observatoire de Geneve, Universite de Geneve, 51 Chemin des Maillettes, 1290 Sauverny (Switzerland)
4. Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)
5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
6. Institut d'Astrophysique et de Geophysique, Universite de Liege, Allee du 6 Aout, 17, Bat. B5C, Liege 1 (Belgium)

We report the discovery of a 61-Jupiter-mass brown dwarf (BD), which transits its F8V host star, WASP-30, every 4.16 days. From a range of age indicators we estimate the system age to be 1-2 Gyr. We derive a radius (0.89 {+-} 0.02 R{sub Jup}) for the companion that is consistent with that predicted (0.914 R{sub Jup}) by a model of a 1 Gyr old, non-irradiated BD with a dusty atmosphere. The location of WASP-30b in the minimum of the mass-radius relation is consistent with the quantitative prediction of Chabrier and Baraffe, thus confirming the theory.

• OSTI ID: 21560575
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 726, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/726/2/L19; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
AGE ESTIMATION
DWARF STARS
FORECASTING
STARS