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Gliese 569B: A Young Multiple Brown Dwarf System?*

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Matthew Kenworthy1, Karl-Heinz Hofmann2, Laird Close1, Phil Hinz1, Eric Mamajek1, Dieter Schertl2, Gerd Weigelt2, Roger Angel1, Yuri Y. Balega3, Joannah Hinz1 and George Rieke1

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The nearby late M star Gliese 569B was recently found by adaptive optics imaging to be a double with separation ~1 AU. To explore the orbital motion and masses, we have undertaken a high-resolution (~0farcs05) astrometric study. Images were obtained over 1.5 yr with bispectrum speckle interferometry at the 6.5 m Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) and 6 m Special Astrophysical Observatory telescope. Our data show motion corresponding to more than half the orbital period and constrain the total mass to be greater than 0.115 Msun, with a most probable value of 0.145 Msun. Higher masses cannot be excluded without more extended observations, but from statistical analysis we find an 80% probability that the total mass is less than 0.21 Msun.

An infrared spectrum of the blended B double obtained with the MMT has been modeled as a blend of two different spectral types, chosen to be consistent with the measured J- and K-band brightness difference of a factor of ~2. The blended fit is not nearly as good as that to a pure M8.5+ template. Therefore, we hypothesize that the brighter component likely has two unresolved components with near equal masses, each the same as the fainter component.

If Gl 569B is a triple, our dynamical limits suggest each component has a mass of 50img1.gif MJup. We infer an age for the system of 300 Myr from its kinematic motion, which places it as a member of the Ursa Major moving group. All the above parameters are consistent with the latest DUSTY evolution models for brown dwarfs.


Footnote
*  Some of the observations reported here were obtained at the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution.
Subject headings

binaries: general; stars: evolution; stars: formation; stars: individual (Gl 569); stars: low-mass, brown dwarfs


Dates

Issue 1 (2001 June 10)

Received 2001 April 16, accepted for publication 2001 May 9

Published 2001 May 23



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