The Best Brown Dwarf Yet?: A Companion to the Hyades Eclipsing Binary V471 Tau
arXiv:astro-ph/0010487 · doi:10.1086/318065
Abstract
We have carried out an analysis of about 160 eclipse timings spanning over 30 years of the Hyades eclipsing binary V471 Tauri that shows a long-term quasi-sinusoidal modulation of its observed eclipse arrival times. The O-Cs have been analyzed for the ``light-time'' effect that arises from the gravitational influence of a tertiary companion. The presence of a third body causes the relative distance of the eclipsing pair to the Earth to change as it orbits the barycenter of the triple system. The result of the analysis of the eclipse times yields a light-time semi-amplitude of 137.2+/-12.0 s, an orbital period of P_3 = 30.5+/-1.6 yr and an eccentricity of e_3 = 0.31+/-0.04. The mass of the tertiary component is M_3 sin i_3 = 0.0393+/-0.0038 Mo when a total mass of 1.61+/-0.06 Mo for V471 Tau is adopted. For orbital inclinations i_3 > 35 deg, the mass of the third body would be below the stable hydrogen burning limit of M = 0.07 Mo and it thus would be a brown dwarf. In the next several years (near maximum elongation), it should be feasible to obtain IR images and spectra of V471 Tau C that, when combined with the known mass, age, distance, and [Fe/H], will serve as a benchmark for understanding the physical properties and evolution of brown dwarfs.
9 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters
References in corpus (3)
Cited by in corpus (29)
- Hubble Space Telescope Spectroscopy of V471 Tauri: Oversized K Star, Paradoxical White Dwarf
- Origin of apparent period variations in eclipsing post-common-envelope binaries
- Optical Flash of GRB 990123: constraints on the physical parameter of the reverse shock
- Where are all the Sirius-Like Binary Systems?
- HAT-P-14b: A 2.2 Jupiter-mass exoplanet transiting a bright F star
- First versus second generation planet formation in post common envelope binary (PCEB) planetary systems
- A Dynamical Analysis of the Proposed Circumbinary HW Virginis Planetary System
- A Circumbinary Planet in Orbit Around the Short-Period White-Dwarf Eclipsing Binary RR Cae
- New Pleiades Eclipsing Binaries and a Hyades Transiting System Identified by K2
- Detection of Coronal Mass Ejections in V471 Tauri with the Hubble Space Telescope
- The First Science Results from SPHERE: Disproving the Predicted Brown Dwarf around V471 Tau
- An Adaptive Optics Survey of M6.0-M7.5 Stars: Discovery of Three Very Low Mass Binary Systems Including Two Probable Hyades Members
- Spot patterns and differential rotation in the eclipsing pre-CV binary,V471 Tau
- The Coronae of AB Dor and V471 Tau: Primordial angular momentum vs tidal spin-up
- The V471 Tauri System: A Multi-datatype Probe
- Astrometric and Light-travel Time Orbits to Detect Low-mass Companions: A Case Study of the Eclipsing System R Canis Majoris
- MOST photometry and DDO spectroscopy of the eclipsing (white dwarf + red dwarf) binary V471 Tau
- The Detection of Dust around NN Ser
- The Proposed Quadruple System SZ Herculis: Revised LITE Model and Orbital Stability Study
- Roche tomography of cataclysmic variables - VI. Differential rotation of AE Aqr - Not tidally locked!
- Cyclic period oscillation of the eclipsing dwarf nova DV UMa
- DE CVn: an eclipsing post-common envelope binary with a circumbinary disk and a giant planet
- A confined dynamo: magnetic activity of the K-dwarf component in the pre-cataclysmic binary system V471 Tauri
- Revised Stellar Parameters for V471 Tau, A Post-common Envelope Binary in the Hyades
- Transits and Lensing by Compact Objects in the Kepler Field: Disrupted Stars Orbiting Blue Stragglers
- Coronal element abundances of the post-common envelope binary V471 Tauri with ASCA
- Magnetic field evolution of the K2 dwarf V471 Tau
- Variability of eclipse timing:the case of V471 Tauri
- Eclipse timing variations in 7 post-common envelope binaries: an update on recent circumbinary models