An Astrometric Search for a Sub-stellar Companion of the M8.5 Dwarf TVLM 513-46546 Using Very Long Baseline Interferometry

Abstract

We conducted multi-epoch VLBI observations to search for astrometric reflex motion caused by a sub-stellar companion of the M8.5 dwarf TVLM 513-46546. The observations yield an absolute parallax corresponding to a distance of 10.762+/-0.027 pc and a proper motion of 78.09+/-0.17 mas/yr. From the absence of significant residual motion, we place an upper limit to any reflex motion caused by a companion, extending the parameter space covered by previous near-infrared direct-imaging searches. By covering different orbital periods, the data exclude a phase-space of companion masses and orbital periods ranging from 3.8 Mjup with an orbital radius of ~0.05 AU (orbital period of 16 days) to 0.3 Mjup with an orbital radius of ~0.7 AU (orbital period of 710 days).

8 pages, submitted to ApJ

References in corpus (6)

• Optical Images of an Exosolar Planet 25 Light Years from Earth
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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Astrometric planet search around southern ultracool dwarfs I: First results, including parallaxes of 20 M8-L2 dwarfs
• Comparison of Gaia DR2 Parallaxes of Stars with VLBI Astrometry
• The First Millimeter Detection of a Non-Accreting Ultracool Dwarf
• Timing Analysis of the Periodic Radio and Optical Brightness Variations of the Ultracool Dwarf, TVLM 513-46546
• High-Precision Radio and Infrared Astrometry of LSPM J1314+1320AB - I: Parallax, Proper Motions, and Limits on Planets
• An astrometric planetary companion candidate to the M9 Dwarf TVLM 513-46546
• Rotational modulation of the linear polarimetric variability of the cool dwarf TVLM 513$-$46546
• Variable Radio Emission from the Young Stellar Host of a Hot Jupiter
• Probing the magnetosphere of the M8.5 dwarf TVLM513-46546 by modelling its auroral radio emission. Hint of star exoplanet interaction?
• Low-frequency GMRT observations of ultra-cool dwarfs
• Sub-stellar companions of the young weak-line TTauri Star DoAr21
• A search for millimeter emission from the coldest and closest brown dwarf with ALMA