Littlefair, S.P., Casewell, S.L., Parsons, S.G. et al. (14 more authors) (2014) The substellar companion in the eclipsing white dwarf binary SDSS J141126.20+200911.1. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 445 (2). pp. 2106-2115. ISSN 0035-8711
Abstract
We present high time resolution SDSS-g′ and SDSS-z′ light curves of the primary eclipse in SDSS J141126.20+200911.1, together with time-resolved X-Shooter spectroscopy and near-infrared (NIR) JHKs photometry. Our observations confirm the substellar nature of the companion, making SDSS J141126.20+200911.1 the first eclipsing white dwarf/brown dwarf binary known. We measure a (white dwarf model dependent) mass and radius for the brown dwarf companion of M2 = 0.050 ± 0.002 M⊙ and R2 = 0.072 ± 0.004 M⊙, respectively. The lack of a robust detection of the companion light in the z′-band eclipse constrains the spectral type of the companion to be later than L5. Comparing the NIR photometry to the expected white dwarf flux reveals a clear Ks-band excess, suggesting a spectral type in the range L7–T1. The radius measurement is consistent with the predictions of evolutionary models, and suggests a system age in excess of 3 Gyr. The low companion mass is inconsistent with the inferred spectral type of L7–T1, instead predicting a spectral type nearer T5. This indicates that irradiation of the companion in SDSS J141126.20+200911.1 could be causing a significant temperature increase, at least on one hemisphere.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 The Authors. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | binaries: close; binaries: eclipsing |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL ST/J001589/1 LEVERHULME TRUST (THE) IN-2013-017 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL ST/K002783/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Sep 2016 11:18 |
Last Modified: | 29 Mar 2018 11:49 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu1895 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/mnras/stu1895 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:104551 |