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The cool brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is a close binary

The cool brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is a close binary
The cool brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is a close binary
Owing to their similarities with giant exoplanets, brown dwarf companions of stars provide insights into the fundamental processes of planet formation and evolution. From their orbits, several brown dwarf companions are found to be more massive than theoretical predictions given their luminosities and the ages of their host stars1,2,3. Either the theory is incomplete or these objects are not single entities. For example, they could be two brown dwarfs each with a lower mass and intrinsic luminosity1,4. The most problematic example is Gliese 229 B (refs. 5,6), which is at least 2–6 times less luminous than model predictions given its dynamical mass of 71.4 ± 0.6 Jupiter masses (MJup) (ref. 1). We observed Gliese 229 B with the GRAVITY interferometer and, separately, the CRIRES+ spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. Both sets of observations independently resolve Gliese 229 B into two components, Gliese 229 Ba and Bb, settling the conflict between theory and observations. The two objects have a flux ratio of 0.47 ± 0.03 at a wavelength of 2 μm and masses of 38.1 ± 1.0 and 34.4 ± 1.5 MJup, respectively. They orbit each other every 12.1 days with a semimajor axis of 0.042 astronomical units (au). The discovery of Gliese 229 BaBb, each only a few times more massive than the most massive planets, and separated by 16 times the Earth–moon distance, raises new questions about the formation and prevalence of tight binary brown dwarfs around stars.
0028-0836
1070-1074
Xuan, Jerry W.
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Mérand, A.
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Thompson, W.
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Zhang, Y.
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Lacour, S.
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Blakely, D.
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Mawet, D.
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Oppenheimer, R.
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Kammerer, J.
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Batygin, K.
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Sanghi, A.
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Wang, J.
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Ruffio, J.-B.
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Knutson, H.
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Brandner, W.
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Burgasser, A.
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Rickman, E.
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Salama, M.
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Balmer, W.
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Blunt, S.
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Bourdarot, G.
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Caselli, P.
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Chauvin, G.
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Davies, R.
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Drescher, A.
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Eckart, A.
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Eisenhauer, F.
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Fabricius, M.
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Feuchtgruber, H.
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Finger, G.
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Schreiber, N.M. Forster
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Garcia, P.
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Genzel, R.
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Gillessen, S.
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Grant, S.
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Hartl, M.
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Haußmann, F.
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Henning, T.
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Hinkley, S.
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Horrobin, M.
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Houllé, M.
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Janson, M.
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Kervella, P.
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Kral, Q.
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Kreidberg, L.
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Bouquin, J.-B. Le
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Lutz, D.
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Mang, F.
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Sykes, C.
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et al.
Xuan, Jerry W.
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Mérand, A.
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Thompson, W.
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Zhang, Y.
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Lacour, S.
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Blakely, D.
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Mawet, D.
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Oppenheimer, R.
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Kammerer, J.
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Batygin, K.
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Sanghi, A.
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Wang, J.
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Ruffio, J.-B.
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Knutson, H.
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Brandner, W.
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Burgasser, A.
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Rickman, E.
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Bowens-Rubin, R.
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Salama, M.
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Balmer, W.
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Blunt, S.
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Bourdarot, G.
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Caselli, P.
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Chauvin, G.
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Davies, R.
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Drescher, A.
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Eckart, A.
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Eisenhauer, F.
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Fabricius, M.
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Feuchtgruber, H.
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Finger, G.
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Schreiber, N.M. Forster
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Garcia, P.
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Genzel, R.
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Gillessen, S.
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Grant, S.
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Hartl, M.
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Haußmann, F.
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Henning, T.
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Hinkley, S.
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Horrobin, M.
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Houllé, M.
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Janson, M.
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Kervella, P.
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Kral, Q.
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Kreidberg, L.
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Bouquin, J.-B. Le
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Lutz, D.
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Mang, F.
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Sykes, C.
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et al. (2024) The cool brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is a close binary. Nature, 634, 1070-1074. (doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08064-x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Owing to their similarities with giant exoplanets, brown dwarf companions of stars provide insights into the fundamental processes of planet formation and evolution. From their orbits, several brown dwarf companions are found to be more massive than theoretical predictions given their luminosities and the ages of their host stars1,2,3. Either the theory is incomplete or these objects are not single entities. For example, they could be two brown dwarfs each with a lower mass and intrinsic luminosity1,4. The most problematic example is Gliese 229 B (refs. 5,6), which is at least 2–6 times less luminous than model predictions given its dynamical mass of 71.4 ± 0.6 Jupiter masses (MJup) (ref. 1). We observed Gliese 229 B with the GRAVITY interferometer and, separately, the CRIRES+ spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. Both sets of observations independently resolve Gliese 229 B into two components, Gliese 229 Ba and Bb, settling the conflict between theory and observations. The two objects have a flux ratio of 0.47 ± 0.03 at a wavelength of 2 μm and masses of 38.1 ± 1.0 and 34.4 ± 1.5 MJup, respectively. They orbit each other every 12.1 days with a semimajor axis of 0.042 astronomical units (au). The discovery of Gliese 229 BaBb, each only a few times more massive than the most massive planets, and separated by 16 times the Earth–moon distance, raises new questions about the formation and prevalence of tight binary brown dwarfs around stars.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 17 September 2024
Published date: 16 October 2024

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 502862
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/502862
DOI: doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08064-x
ISSN: 0028-0836
PURE UUID: 7a4ce4a1-fa2d-4013-a2e0-b7ef327e12ff
ORCID for C. Sykes: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3819-3023

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Date deposited: 10 Jul 2025 17:06
Last modified: 11 Jul 2025 02:12

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Contributors

Author: Jerry W. Xuan
Author: A. Mérand
Author: W. Thompson
Author: Y. Zhang
Author: S. Lacour
Author: D. Blakely
Author: D. Mawet
Author: R. Oppenheimer
Author: J. Kammerer
Author: K. Batygin
Author: A. Sanghi
Author: J. Wang
Author: J.-B. Ruffio
Author: H. Knutson
Author: W. Brandner
Author: A. Burgasser
Author: E. Rickman
Author: R. Bowens-Rubin
Author: M. Salama
Author: W. Balmer
Author: S. Blunt
Author: G. Bourdarot
Author: P. Caselli
Author: G. Chauvin
Author: R. Davies
Author: A. Drescher
Author: A. Eckart
Author: F. Eisenhauer
Author: M. Fabricius
Author: H. Feuchtgruber
Author: G. Finger
Author: N.M. Forster Schreiber
Author: P. Garcia
Author: R. Genzel
Author: S. Gillessen
Author: S. Grant
Author: M. Hartl
Author: F. Haußmann
Author: T. Henning
Author: S. Hinkley
Author: M. Horrobin
Author: M. Houllé
Author: M. Janson
Author: P. Kervella
Author: Q. Kral
Author: L. Kreidberg
Author: J.-B. Le Bouquin
Author: D. Lutz
Author: F. Mang
Author: C. Sykes ORCID iD
Corporate Author: et al.

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