MARVELS-1b: A Short-period, Brown Dwarf Desert Candidate from the SDSS-III Marvels Planet Search
Lee, B. L; Ge, J; Fleming, S. W; Stassun, K. G; Gaudi, B. S; Barnes, R; Mahadevan, S; Eastman, J. D; Wright, J; Siverd, R. J; Gary, B; Ghezzi, L; Laws, C; Wisniewski, J. P; Porto de Mello, G. F; Ogando, R. L. C; Maia, M. A. G; Nicolaci da Costa, L; Sivarani, T; Pepper, J; Cuong Nguyen, D; Hebb, L; De Lee, N; Wang, J; Wan, X; Chang, L; Groot, J; Varosi, F; Hearty, F; Hanna, K; van Eyken, J. C; Kane, S. R; Agol, E; Bizyaev, D; Bochanski, J. J; Brewington, H; Chen, Z; Costello, E; Dou, L; Eisenstein, D. J; Fletcher, A; Ford, E. B; Guo, P; Holtzman, J. A; Jiang, P; French Leger, R; Liu, J; Long, D. C; Malanushenko, E; Malanushenko, V; Malik, M; Oravetz, D; Pan, K; Rohan, P; Schneider, D. P; Shelden, A; Snedden, S. A; Simmons, A; Weaver, B. A; Weinberg, D. H; Xie, J
Date:
2011-02
Abstract:
We present a new short-period brown dwarf (BD) candidate around the star TYC 1240-00945-1. This candidate was discovered in the first year of the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanets Large-area Survey (MARVELS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) III, and we designate the BD as MARVELS-1b. MARVELS uses the technique of dispersed fixed-delay interferometery to simultaneously obtain radial velocity (RV) measurements for 60 objects per field using a single, custom-built instrument that is fiber fed from the SDSS 2.5 m telescope. From our 20 RV measurements spread over a ~370 day time baseline, we derive a Keplerian orbital fit with semi-amplitude K = 2.533 ± 0.025 km s–1, period P = 5.8953 ± 0.0004 days, and eccentricity consistent with circular. Independent follow-up RV data confirm the orbit. Adopting a mass of 1.37 ± 0.11 M sun for the slightly evolved F9 host star, we infer that the companion has a minimum mass of 28.0 ± 1.5 M Jup, a semimajor axis 0.071 ± 0.002 AU assuming an edge-on orbit, and is probably tidally synchronized. We find no evidence for coherent intrinsic variability of the host star at the period of the companion at levels greater than a few millimagnitudes. The companion has an a priori transit probability of ~14%. Although we find no evidence for transits, we cannot definitively rule them out for companion radii lsim1 R Jup.
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