2MASS 1237+6526

2MASS 1237+6526

T-type brown dwarf 2MASS 1237+6526 (faint red "star" in the center) imaged by legacy surveys
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox ICRS
Constellation Draco
Right ascension 12h 37m 39.19632s
Declination +65° 26′ 14.8092″
Apparent magnitude (V) +16.05
Characteristics
Spectral type T6.5
Astrometry
Parallax (π)96.07±4.78 mas
Distance34 ± 2 ly
(10.4 ± 0.5 pc)
Details
Mass0.035 M☉
Radius0.11 R☉
Luminosity6.25×10−6 L☉
Temperature850 K
Age≥2-10 billion years
Other designations
2MASS J12373919+6526148, 2MASSI J1237392+652615, 2MASSW J1237392+652615
Database references
SIMBADdata

2MASS J12373919+6526148 (hereafter 2MASS 1237+6526) is a brown dwarf object with late spectral type T in the constellation of Draco, nearly 34 light-years away from the Sun. It was discovered by Adam Burgasser et al. in 1999 using data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey. It is an unusual brown dwarf in that it shows strong and sustained Hα emission. This emission has been conjectured as potentially arising from a very low-mass companion (not yet detected), possibly in the planetary mass regime.

Radio observations with the Very Large Array detected the brown dwarf. The strong detection is due to weakly circularly polarized (~35%) quiescent emission as well as pulsed emission, including a strong pulse that was highly circularly polarized (~80%). Two weaker pulses occurred before and after this strong pulse. This constrained the rotation period to 2.28+0.10
−0.09 h. 2MASS 1237+6526 may potentially show aurorae, which would be significant since extrasolar aurorae have not been detected, but this has not been conclusively demonstrated.

Possible planetary companion

Burgasser et al. (2002) have inferred the presence of a low-mass companion orbiting the brown dwarf 2MASS 1237+6526. Such object would yield a mass between 3 and 12 times that of Jupiter and take nearly 4.56 hours (0.19 days) to revolve around its dim primary. If confirmed it would be one of the shortest period exoplanets and orbiting one of the faintest hosts so far. Accounting very faint luminosity of the primary (6.25/1,000,000th of Sun's luminosity), the habitable zone is located within 0.0025 astronomical units, so the putative planet could likely retain great amounts of water and ammonia. Moreover, both the objects would appear the same size.

The 2MASS 1237+6526 planetary system
Companion
(in order from star)		 Mass Semimajor axis
(AU)		 Orbital period
(days)		 Eccentricity Inclination
(°)		 Radius
b (unconfirmed) ≥3-12 MJ ≤0.003 ≥0.19 0? — —

See also

Other T-dwarfs with detected radio emission:

References

  1. 1 2 Cutri, R. M. (2003). "2MASS All-Sky Catalog of Point Sources". VizieR On-line Data Catalog. Bibcode:2003yCat.2246....0C.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Burgasser, Adam J.; Liebert, James; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; et al. (2002). "A Search for Variability in the Active T Dwarf 2MASS 1237+6526". The Astronomical Journal. 123: 2744. arXiv:astro-ph/0201382. Bibcode:2002AJ....123.2744B. doi:10.1086/339836.
  3. 1 2 Faherty, Jacqueline K. (2012). "The Brown Dwarf Kinematics Project (BDKP). III. Parallaxes for 70 Ultracool Dwarfs". The Astrophysical Journal. 752 (1): 56. arXiv:1203.5543. Bibcode:2012ApJ...752...56F. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/752/1/56. S2CID 18160586.
  4. 1 2 Liebert & Burgasser (2007). "On the Nature of the Unique Hα-emitting T Dwarf 2MASS J12373919+6526148". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 655 (1): 522–527. arXiv:astro-ph/0609793. Bibcode:2007ApJ...655..522L. doi:10.1086/509882. S2CID 18852560.
  5. ↑ Burgasser, Adam J.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Brown, Michael E.; et al. (1999). "Discovery of Four Field Methane (T-Type) Dwarfs with the Two Micron All-Sky Survey". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 522: L65. Bibcode:1999ApJ...522L..65B. doi:10.1086/312221.
  6. ↑ Burgasser, Adam J.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Reid, I. Neill.; et al. (2000). "Detection of H$\alpha$ Emission in a Methane (T Type) Brown Dwarf". The Astronomical Journal. 120: 47. arXiv:astro-ph/0003291. Bibcode:2000AJ....120..473B. doi:10.1086/301423.
  7. ↑ Burgasser, Adam J.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Liebert, James; et al. (2003). "The Spectra of T Dwarfs. II. Red Optical Data". The Astrophysical Journal. 594: 510. arXiv:astro-ph/0305139. Bibcode:2003ApJ...594..510B. doi:10.1086/376756.
  8. ↑ Kao, Melodie M.; Hallinan, Gregg; Pineda, J. Sebastian; Stevenson, David; Burgasser, Adam (2018-07-31). "The Strongest Magnetic Fields on the Coolest Brown Dwarfs". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 237 (2): 25. arXiv:1808.02485. Bibcode:2018ApJS..237...25K. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aac2d5. ISSN 0067-0049.
  9. ↑ Saur, Joachim; Willmes, Clarissa; Fischer, Christian; Wennmacher, Alexandre; Roth, Lorenz; Youngblood, Allison; Strobel, Darrell F.; Reiners, Ansgar (2021). "Brown dwarfs as ideal candidates for detecting UV aurora outside the Solar System: Hubble Space Telescope observations of 2MASS J1237+6526". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 655: A75. arXiv:2109.00827. Bibcode:2021A&A...655A..75S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202040230. S2CID 237385895.