Constraints on the substellar companions in wide orbits around the Barnard's Star from CanariCam mid-infrared imaging

Gauza, B.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Rebolo, R.; Álvarez, C.; Bihain, G.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.; Caballero, J. A.; Telesco, C. M.; Packham, C.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 452, Issue 2, p.1677-1683

Advertised on:
9
2015
Number of authors
9
IAC number of authors
4
Citations
6
Refereed citations
6
Description
We have performed mid-infrared imaging of Barnard's Star, one of the nearest stars to the Sun, using CanariCam on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias. We aim to investigate an area within 1-10 arcsec separations, which for the 1.83 pc distance of the star translates to projected orbital separations of 1.8-18 au (P > 12 yr), which have not been explored yet with astrometry or radial velocity programs. It is therefore an opportunity to enter the domain of distances where most giant planets are expected to form. We performed deep imaging in the N-band window (Si-2 filter, 8.7 μm) reaching a 3σ detection limit of 0.85 ± 0.18 mJy and angular resolution of 0.24 arcsec, close to the diffraction limit of the telescope at this wavelength. A total of 80 min on-source integration time data were collected and combined for the deepest image. We achieved a dynamical range of 8.0 ± 0.1 mag in the 8.7 μm band, at angular separations from ˜2 to 10 arcsec and of ˜6-8 mag at 1-2 arcsec. No additional sources were found. Our detectability limits provide further constraints to the presence of substellar companions of the Barnard's Star. According to solar metallicity evolutionary models, we can exclude companions of masses larger than 15 MJup (Teff > 400 K), ages of a few Gyr, and located in ˜3.6-18 au orbits with a 3σ confidence level. This minimum mass is approximately 5 MJup smaller than any previous imaging survey that explored the surroundings of Barnard's Star could restrict.
Related projects
Discovery of a system of super-Earths orbiting the star HD 176986 with about 5.7 and 9.2 Earth masses.
Very Low Mass Stars, Brown Dwarfs and Planets

Our goal is to study the processes that lead to the formation of low mass stars, brown dwarfs and planets and to characterize the physical properties of these objects in various evolutionary stages. Low mass stars and brown dwarfs are likely the most numerous type of objects in our Galaxy but due to their low intrinsic luminosity they are not so

Rafael
Rebolo López
Projects' name image
Exoplanets and Astrobiology

The search for life in the universe has been driven by recent discoveries of planets around other stars (known as exoplanets), becoming one of the most active fields in modern astrophysics. The growing number of new exoplanets discovered in recent years and the recent advance on the study of their atmospheres are not only providing new valuable

Enric
Pallé Bago