Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:57:26.152Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Discovery of Three Very Low Mass Binary Systems: An Adaptive Optics Survey of M6.0–M7.5 Stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

Nick Siegler ,
Laird M. Close ,
Eric E. Mamajek  and
Melanie Freed
Nick Siegler
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA 85721 [email protected]
Laird M. Close
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA 85721 [email protected]
Eric E. Mamajek
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA 85721 [email protected]
Melanie Freed
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA 85721 [email protected]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We have used the adaptive optics system Hōkūpa'a at Gemini North to search for companions from a flux-limited (Ks > 12) survey of 30 nearby M6.0–M7.5 dwarfs. Our observations, which are sensitive to companions with separations > 0.1″ (~ 2.8 AU), detect 3 new binary systems. This implies an overall binary fraction of 9±4% for M6.0–M7.5 binaries. This binary frequency is somewhat less than the 19±7% measured for late M stars and ~ 20% for L stars, but is still statistically consistent. However, the result is significantly lower than the binary fractions observed amongst solar mass main sequence stars (~60%) and early M stars (~35%).

Type
Part 6. Searches for Substellar Companions
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 211: Brown Dwarfs , 2003 , pp. 257 - 260
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001 

References

Chabrier, G., Baraffe, I., Allard, F., & Hauschildt, P. 2000, ApJ, 542, 464 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Close, L. M., Siegler, N., & Freed, M. 2002c, ApJ submitted Google Scholar
Dahn, et al. 1992, ApJ, 124, 1170 Google Scholar
Duquennoy, A., Mayor, M. 1991, A&A, 248, 485 Google Scholar
Fischer, D. A., & Marcy, G. W. 1992, ApJ, 396, 178 Google Scholar
Freed, M., Close, L. M., & Siegler, N. 2002, ApJ submitted Google Scholar
Gizis, et al. 2000, AJ, 120, 1085 Google Scholar
Reid, I. N., Gizis, J. E., Kirkpatrick, J. D., Koerner, D. W. 2001a, AJ, 121, 489 Google Scholar
Siegler, N., Close, L. M., Mamajek, E. E., & Freed, M. 2002, in preparation Google Scholar