Visual orbit of the low-mass binary GJ 164 AB

Frantz Martinache*, Barbara Rojas-Ayala, Michael J. Ireland, James P. Lloyd, Peter G. Tuthill

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report seven successful observations of the astrometric binary GJ 164 AB system with aperture masking interferometry. The companion, with a near-infrared contrast of 5:1 was detected beyond the formal diffraction limit. Combined with astrometric observations from the literature, these observations fix the parallax of the system, and allow a model-independent mass determination of both components.We find the mass of GJ 164 B to be 0.096±0.008M . With data taken with the newly commissioned TripleSpec spectrograph, we examine GJ 164's near-infrared spectral features and compare them to a sample of M dwarfs of known metallicity. Models are not consistent with color and mass, requiring a very young age to accommodate a secondary too luminous, a scenario ruled out by the kinematics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1183-1190
Number of pages8
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume695
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Apr 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Brown dwarfs
  • Stars: low-mass
  • Techniques: high angular resolution
  • Techniques: spectroscopic

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