WISE Brown Dwarf Binaries: The Discovery of a T5+T5 and a T8.5+T9 System

Creators: Gelino, Christopher R.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Cushing, Michael C.; Eisenhardt, Peter R.; Griffith, Roger L.; Mainzer, Amanda K.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Wright, Edward L.

Abstract

The multiplicity properties of brown dwarfs are critical empirical constraints for formation theories, while multiples themselves provide unique opportunities to test evolutionary and atmospheric models and examine empirical trends. Studies using high-resolution imaging cannot only uncover faint companions, but they can also be used to determine dynamical masses through long-term monitoring of binary systems. We have begun a search for the coolest brown dwarfs using preliminary processing of data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and have confirmed many of the candidates as late-type T dwarfs. In order to search for companions to these objects, we are conducting observations using the Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system on Keck II. Here we present the first results of that search, including a T5 binary with nearly equal mass components and a faint companion to a T8.5 dwarf with an estimated spectral type of T9.

Additional Information

© 2011 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2011 March 22; accepted 2011 June 9; published 2011 July 14. Some of the data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. The authors acknowledge telescope operators Julie Rivera, Heather Hershley, and Gary Punawai, and instrument specialists Al Conrad, Marc Kassis, and Scott Dahm at Keck, for their assistance during the observations. This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This research was supported in part by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities through a contract with NASA. Data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory from telescope time allocated to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the agency's scientific partnership with the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. The authors recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that the summit ofMauna Kea has always had within the indigenous Hawaiian community. We are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from this mountain. Facilities: Keck:II (NIRC2, LGS)

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