Bibcode
Casewell, S. L.; Belardi, C.; Parsons, S. G.; Littlefair, S. P.; Braker, I. P.; Hermes, J. J.; Debes, J.; Vanderbosch, Z.; Burleigh, M. R.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Dhillon, V. S.; Marsh, T. R.; Winget, D. E.; Winget, K. I.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Advertised on:
9
2020
Citations
27
Refereed citations
25
Description
We present the discovery of only the third brown dwarf known to eclipse a non-accreting white dwarf. Gaia parallax information and multicolour photometry confirm that the white dwarf is cool (9950 ± 150 K) and has a low mass (0.45 ± 0.05 M☉), and spectra and light curves suggest the brown dwarf has a mass of 0.067 ± 0.006 M☉ (70MJup) and a spectral type of L5 ± 1. The kinematics of the system show that the binary is likely to be a member of the thick disc and therefore at least 5-Gyr old. The high-cadence light curves show that the brown dwarf is inflated, making it the first brown dwarf in an eclipsing white dwarf-brown dwarf binary to be so.
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Binary Stars
The study of binary stars is essential to stellar astrophysics. A large number of stars form and evolve within binary systems. Therefore, their study is fundamental to understand stellar and galactic evolution. Particularly relevant is that binary systems are still the best source of precise stellar mass and radius measurements. Research lines
Pablo
Rodríguez Gil