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Title:
SDSS J042348.57-041403.5AB: A Brown Dwarf Binary Straddling the L/T Transition
Authors:
Burgasser, Adam J.; Reid, I. Neill; Leggett, S. K.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Liebert, James; Burrows, Adam
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Astrophysics, Division of Physical Sciences, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024; currently at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 37, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 .; Spitzer Fellow.), AB(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218.), AC(Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 North A`ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720.), AD(Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, Mail Stop 100-22, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.), AE(Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721.), AF(Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721.)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 634, Issue 2, pp. L177-L180. (ApJL Homepage)
Publication Date:
12/2005
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Stars: Binaries: Visual, Stars: Fundamental Parameters, stars: individual (SDSS J042348.57-041403.5), Stars: Low-Mass, Brown Dwarfs
DOI:
10.1086/498866
Bibliographic Code:
2005ApJ...634L.177B

Abstract

We present the discovery of SDSS J042348.57-041403.5 as a closely separated (0.16") brown dwarf binary, resolved by the Hubble Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. Physical association is deduced from the angular proximity of the components and constraints on their common proper motion. SDSS 0423-0414AB appears to be composed of two brown dwarfs with spectral types L6+/-1 and T2+/-1. Hence, this system straddles the transition between L dwarfs and T dwarfs, a unique evolutionary phase of brown dwarfs characterized by substantial shifts in spectral morphology over an apparently narrow effective temperature range. Binarity explains a number of unusual properties of SDSS 0423-0414, including its overluminosity and high effective temperature compared to other early-type T dwarfs, and possibly its conflicting spectral classifications (L7.5 in the optical, T0 in the near-infrared). The relatively short estimated orbital period of this system (~15-20 yr) and the presence of Li I absorption in its combined light spectrum make it an ideal target for both resolved spectroscopy and dynamical mass measurements. SDSS 0423-0414AB joins a growing list of late-L/early-T dwarf binaries, the high percentage of which (~50%) may provide a natural explanation for observed peculiarities across the L/T transition.
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