Direct Imaging Discovery of a Young Brown Dwarf Companion to an A2V Star

Abstract

We present the discovery and spectroscopy of HIP 75056Ab, a companion directly imaged at a very small separation of 0.125 arcsec to an A2V star in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB2 association. Our observations utilized VLT/SPHERE between 2015$-$2019, enabling low-resolution spectroscopy (0.95$-$1.65 $\hat{I}¼m$), dual-band imaging (2.1$-$2.25 $\hat{I}¼m$), and relative astrometry over a four-year baseline. HIP 75056Ab is consistent with spectral types in the range of M6$-$L2 and $T_{\mathrm{eff}}\sim$ 2000$-$2600 K. A comparison of the companion's brightness to evolutionary tracks suggests a mass of $\sim$20$-$30 M${}_{Jup}$. The astrometric measurements are consistent with an orbital semi-major axis of $\sim$15$-$45 au and an inclination close to face-on (i$\lesssim$35${}^o$). In this range of mass and orbital separation, HIP 75056Ab is likely at the low-mass end of the distribution of companions formed via disk instability, although a formation of the companion via core accretion cannot be excluded. The orbital constraints are consistent with the modest eccentricity values predicted by disk instability, a scenario that can be confirmed by further astrometric monitoring. HIP 75056Ab may be utilized as a low-mass atmospheric comparison to older, higher-mass brown dwarfs, and also to young giant planets. Finally, the detection of HIP 75056Ab at 0.125 arcsec represents a milestone in detecting low-mass companions at separations corresponding to the habitable zones of nearby Sun-like stars.

Accepted for publication in ApJL