Casewell, S. L.; Belardi, C.; Parsons, S. G.; Littlefair, S. P.; Braker, I. P.; Hermes, J. J.; Debes, J.; Vanderbosch, Z.; Burleigh, M. R.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Dhillon, V. S.; Marsh, T. R.; Winget, D. E.; Winget, K. I.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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9
2020
Citations
30
Refereed citations
26
Description
We present the discovery of only the third brown dwarf known to eclipse a non-accreting white dwarf. Gaia parallax information and multicolour photometry confirm that the white dwarf is cool (9950 ± 150 K) and has a low mass (0.45 ± 0.05 M☉), and spectra and light curves suggest the brown dwarf has a mass of 0.067 ± 0.006 M☉ (70MJup) and a spectral type of L5 ± 1. The kinematics of the system show that the binary is likely to be a member of the thick disc and therefore at least 5-Gyr old. The high-cadence light curves show that the brown dwarf is inflated, making it the first brown dwarf in an eclipsing white dwarf-brown dwarf binary to be so.
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Rodríguez Gil