The Physical Properties of HD 3651B: An Extrasolar Nemesis?

Abstract

I present detailed analysis of the near infrared spectrum of HD 3651B, a faint, co-moving wide companion to the nearby planet-hosting star HD 3651. These data confirm the companion as a brown dwarf with spectral type T8, consistent with the analysis of Luhman et al. Application of the semi-empirical technique of Burgasser, Burrows & Kirkpatrick indicates that HD 3651B has Teff = 790+/-30 K and log g = 5.0+/-0.3 for a metallicity of [M/H] = 0.12+/-0.04, consistent with a mass M = 0.033+/-0.013 M_sun and an age of 0.7-4.7 Gyr. The surface gravity, mass and age estimates of this source are all highly sensitive to the assumed metallicity; however, a supersolar metallicity is deduced by direct comparison of spectral models to the observed absolute fluxes. The age of HD 3651B is somewhat better constrained than that of the primary, with estimates for the latter ranging over ~2 Gyr to >12 Gyr. As a widely orbiting massive object to a known planetary system that could potentially harbor terrestrial planets in its habitable zone, HD 3651B may play the role of Nemesis in this system.

16 pages, 3 figures, accepted to ApJ Part 1; note that this article supersedes astro-ph/0609556

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