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Title:
Discovery of Two Very Low Mass Binaries: Final Results of an Adaptive Optics Survey of Nearby M6.0-M7.5 Stars
Authors:
Siegler, Nick; Close, Laird M.; Cruz, Kelle L.; Martín, Eduardo L.; Reid, I. Neill
Affiliation:
AA(Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721.), AB(Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721.), AC(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.; American Museum of Natural History, Department of Astrophysics, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10023.), AD(Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, La Laguna, Tenerife E-38200, Spain.), AE(Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.; Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218.)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 621, Issue 2, pp. 1023-1032. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
03/2005
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Stars: Binaries: General, Instrumentation: Adaptive Optics, Stars: Low-Mass, Brown Dwarfs
DOI:
10.1086/427743
Bibliographic Code:
2005ApJ...621.1023S

Abstract

We present updated results of a high-resolution, magnitude-limited (Ks<12 mag) imaging survey of nearby low-mass M6.0-M7.5 field stars. The observations were carried out using adaptive optics at the Gemini North, VLT, Keck II, and Subaru telescopes. Our sample of 36 stars consists predominantly of nearby (<~30 pc) field stars, five of which we have resolved as binaries. Two of the binary systems, 2MASSI J0429184-312356 and 2MASSI J1847034+552243, are presented here for the first time. All five of the discovered binary systems have separations between 0.08" and 0.53" (2-9 AU) with similar mass ratios (q>0.8, ΔKs<1 mag). This result supports the hypothesis that wide (a>20 AU), very low mass (VLM; Mtot<0.19Msolar) binary systems are rare. The projected semimajor axis distribution of these systems peak at ~5 AU, and we report a sensitivity-corrected binary fraction of 9+4-3% for stars with primaries of spectral type M6.0-M7.5 with separations >~3 AU and mass ratios q>~0.6. Within these instrumental sensitivities, these results support the overall trend that both the semimajor axis distribution and binary fraction are a function of the mass of the primary star and decrease with decreasing primary mass. These observations provide important constraints for low-mass binary star formation theories.
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