The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel

Beth A. Biller; Michael C. Liu; Zahed Wahhaj; Eric L. Nielsen; Laird M. Close; Trent J. Dupuy; Thomas L. Hayward; Adam Burrows; Mark Chun; Christ Ftaclas; Fraser Clarke; Markus Hartung; Jared Males; I. Neill Reid; Evgenya L. Shkolnik; Andrew Skemer; Matthias Tecza; Niranjan Thatte; Silvia H. P. Alencar; Pawel Artymowicz; Alan Boss; Elisabete de Gouveia Dal Pino; Jane Gregorio-Hetem; Shigeru Ida; Marc J. Kuchner; Douglas Lin; Douglas Toomey

The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel

Beth A. Biller, Michael C. Liu, Zahed Wahhaj, Eric L. Nielsen, Laird M. Close, Trent J. Dupuy, Thomas L. Hayward, Adam Burrows, Mark Chun, Christ Ftaclas, Fraser Clarke, Markus Hartung, Jared Males, I. Neill Reid, Evgenya L. Shkolnik, Andrew Skemer, Matthias Tecza, Niranjan Thatte, Silvia H. P. Alencar, Pawel ArtymowiczAlan Boss, Elisabete de Gouveia Dal Pino, Jane Gregorio-Hetem, Shigeru Ida, Marc J. Kuchner, Douglas Lin, Douglas Toomey

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We report the discovery of a tight substellar companion to the young solar analog PZ Tel, a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group observed with high contrast adaptive optics imaging as part of the Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign. The companion was detected at a projected separation of 16.4 +/- 1.0 AU (0.33 +/- 0.01") in April 2009. Second-epoch observations in May 2010 demonstrate that the companion is physically associated and shows significant orbital motion. Monte Carlo modeling constrains the orbit of PZ Tel B to eccentricities > 0.6. The near-IR colors of PZ Tel B indicate a spectral type of M7+/-2 and thus this object will be a new benchmark companion for studies of ultracool, low-gravity photospheres. Adopting an age of 12 +8 -4 Myr for the system, we estimate a mass of 36 +/- 6 Mjup based on the Lyon/DUSTY evolutionary models. PZ Tel B is one of few young substellar companions directly imaged at orbital separations similar to those of giant planets in our own solar system. Additionally, the primary star PZ Tel A shows a 70 um emission excess, evidence for a significant quantity of circumstellar dust that has not been disrupted by the orbital motion of the companion.

Original language	Undefined/Unknown
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Publication status	Published - 27 Jul 2010

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

astro-ph.SR

Cite this

A. Biller, B., C. Liu, M., Wahhaj, Z., L. Nielsen, E., M. Close, L., J. Dupuy, T., L. Hayward, T., Burrows, A., Chun, M., Ftaclas, C., Clarke, F., Hartung, M., Males, J., Neill Reid, I., L. Shkolnik, E., Skemer, A., Tecza, M., Thatte, N., H. P. Alencar, S., ... Toomey, D. (2010). The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel. Astrophysical Journal Letters.

@article{49cd9d702c7d453dbdcf609fbf22da56,

title = "The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel",

abstract = "We report the discovery of a tight substellar companion to the young solar analog PZ Tel, a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group observed with high contrast adaptive optics imaging as part of the Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign. The companion was detected at a projected separation of 16.4 +/- 1.0 AU (0.33 +/- 0.01{"}) in April 2009. Second-epoch observations in May 2010 demonstrate that the companion is physically associated and shows significant orbital motion. Monte Carlo modeling constrains the orbit of PZ Tel B to eccentricities > 0.6. The near-IR colors of PZ Tel B indicate a spectral type of M7+/-2 and thus this object will be a new benchmark companion for studies of ultracool, low-gravity photospheres. Adopting an age of 12 +8 -4 Myr for the system, we estimate a mass of 36 +/- 6 Mjup based on the Lyon/DUSTY evolutionary models. PZ Tel B is one of few young substellar companions directly imaged at orbital separations similar to those of giant planets in our own solar system. Additionally, the primary star PZ Tel A shows a 70 um emission excess, evidence for a significant quantity of circumstellar dust that has not been disrupted by the orbital motion of the companion.",

keywords = "astro-ph.SR",

author = "{A. Biller}, Beth and {C. Liu}, Michael and Zahed Wahhaj and {L. Nielsen}, Eric and {M. Close}, Laird and {J. Dupuy}, Trent and {L. Hayward}, Thomas and Adam Burrows and Mark Chun and Christ Ftaclas and Fraser Clarke and Markus Hartung and Jared Males and {Neill Reid}, I. and {L. Shkolnik}, Evgenya and Andrew Skemer and Matthias Tecza and Niranjan Thatte and {H. P. Alencar}, Silvia and Pawel Artymowicz and Alan Boss and {de Gouveia Dal Pino}, Elisabete and Jane Gregorio-Hetem and Shigeru Ida and {J. Kuchner}, Marc and Douglas Lin and Douglas Toomey",

note = "15 pages, 4 figures, to appear in ApJ Letters",

year = "2010",

month = jul,

day = "27",

language = "Undefined/Unknown",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8205",

publisher = "IOP Publishing",

}

A. Biller, B, C. Liu, M, Wahhaj, Z, L. Nielsen, E, M. Close, L, J. Dupuy, T, L. Hayward, T, Burrows, A, Chun, M, Ftaclas, C, Clarke, F, Hartung, M, Males, J, Neill Reid, I, L. Shkolnik, E, Skemer, A, Tecza, M, Thatte, N, H. P. Alencar, S, Artymowicz, P, Boss, A, de Gouveia Dal Pino, E, Gregorio-Hetem, J, Ida, S, J. Kuchner, M, Lin, D & Toomey, D 2010, 'The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel', Astrophysical Journal Letters.

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign

T2 - Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel

AU - A. Biller, Beth

AU - C. Liu, Michael

AU - Wahhaj, Zahed

AU - L. Nielsen, Eric

AU - M. Close, Laird

AU - J. Dupuy, Trent

AU - L. Hayward, Thomas

AU - Burrows, Adam

AU - Chun, Mark

AU - Ftaclas, Christ

AU - Clarke, Fraser

AU - Hartung, Markus

AU - Males, Jared

AU - Neill Reid, I.

AU - L. Shkolnik, Evgenya

AU - Skemer, Andrew

AU - Tecza, Matthias

AU - Thatte, Niranjan

AU - H. P. Alencar, Silvia

AU - Artymowicz, Pawel

AU - Boss, Alan

AU - de Gouveia Dal Pino, Elisabete

AU - Gregorio-Hetem, Jane

AU - Ida, Shigeru

AU - J. Kuchner, Marc

AU - Lin, Douglas

AU - Toomey, Douglas

N1 - 15 pages, 4 figures, to appear in ApJ Letters

PY - 2010/7/27

Y1 - 2010/7/27

N2 - We report the discovery of a tight substellar companion to the young solar analog PZ Tel, a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group observed with high contrast adaptive optics imaging as part of the Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign. The companion was detected at a projected separation of 16.4 +/- 1.0 AU (0.33 +/- 0.01") in April 2009. Second-epoch observations in May 2010 demonstrate that the companion is physically associated and shows significant orbital motion. Monte Carlo modeling constrains the orbit of PZ Tel B to eccentricities > 0.6. The near-IR colors of PZ Tel B indicate a spectral type of M7+/-2 and thus this object will be a new benchmark companion for studies of ultracool, low-gravity photospheres. Adopting an age of 12 +8 -4 Myr for the system, we estimate a mass of 36 +/- 6 Mjup based on the Lyon/DUSTY evolutionary models. PZ Tel B is one of few young substellar companions directly imaged at orbital separations similar to those of giant planets in our own solar system. Additionally, the primary star PZ Tel A shows a 70 um emission excess, evidence for a significant quantity of circumstellar dust that has not been disrupted by the orbital motion of the companion.

AB - We report the discovery of a tight substellar companion to the young solar analog PZ Tel, a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group observed with high contrast adaptive optics imaging as part of the Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign. The companion was detected at a projected separation of 16.4 +/- 1.0 AU (0.33 +/- 0.01") in April 2009. Second-epoch observations in May 2010 demonstrate that the companion is physically associated and shows significant orbital motion. Monte Carlo modeling constrains the orbit of PZ Tel B to eccentricities > 0.6. The near-IR colors of PZ Tel B indicate a spectral type of M7+/-2 and thus this object will be a new benchmark companion for studies of ultracool, low-gravity photospheres. Adopting an age of 12 +8 -4 Myr for the system, we estimate a mass of 36 +/- 6 Mjup based on the Lyon/DUSTY evolutionary models. PZ Tel B is one of few young substellar companions directly imaged at orbital separations similar to those of giant planets in our own solar system. Additionally, the primary star PZ Tel A shows a 70 um emission excess, evidence for a significant quantity of circumstellar dust that has not been disrupted by the orbital motion of the companion.

KW - astro-ph.SR

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-8205

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

ER -