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arXiv · 1505.03858

Discovery of Seven Companions to Intermediate Mass Stars with Extreme Mass Ratios in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association

Sasha Hinkley·Adam L. Kraus·Michael J. Ireland·Anthony Cheetham·John M. Carpenter·Peter Tuthill·Sylvestre Lacour·Thomas M. Evans·Xavier Haubois
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Abstract

We report the detection of seven low mass companions to intermediate-mass stars (SpT B/A/F; $M$$\approx$1.5-4.5 solar masses) in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association using nonredundant aperture masking interferometry. Our newly detected objects have contrasts $ΔL'$$\approx$4-6, corresponding to masses as low as $\sim$20 Jupiter masses and mass ratios of $q$$\approx$0.01-0.08, depending on the assumed age of the target stars. With projected separations $ρ$$\approx$10-30 AU, our aperture masking detections sample an orbital region previously unprobed by conventional adaptive optics imaging of intermediate mass Scorpius-Centaurus stars covering much larger orbital radii ($\approx$30-3000 AU). At such orbital separations, these objects resemble higher mass versions of the directly imaged planetary mass companions to the 10-30 Myr, intermediate-mass stars HR 8799, $β$ Pictoris, and HD95086. These newly discovered companions span the brown dwarf desert, and their masses and orbital radii provide a new constraint on models of the formation of low-mass stellar and substellar companions to intermediate-mass stars.

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Sasha Hinkley, Adam L. Kraus, Michael J. Ireland, Anthony Cheetham, John M. Carpenter, Peter Tuthill, Sylvestre Lacour, Thomas M. Evans, Xavier Haubois. 2015-05-14. Discovery of Seven Companions to Intermediate Mass Stars with Extreme Mass Ratios in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205%2F806%2F1%2Fl9

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