# 1 Data for the G 196-3 system

Discovery of a Low-Mass Brown Dwarf

Companion of the Young Nearby Star G 196-3

Rafael Rebolo, María R. Zapatero Osorio, Santiago Madruga

Víctor J. S. Béjar, Santiago Arribas and Javier Licandro

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E–38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

e-mail addresses: rrl@ll.iac.es, mosorio@ll.iac.es, madruga@ll.iac.es

vbejar@ll.iac.es, sam@ll.iac.es, jlicandr@ll.iac.es

Revised version (October 1998)

To whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: rrl@ll.iac.es

A substellar-mass object in orbit at $``$ 300 astronomical units (AU) from the young low-mass star G 196-3 was detected by direct imaging. Optical and infrared photometry and low- and intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of the faint companion, hereafter referred to as G 196-3B, confirms its cool atmosphere and allows its mass to be estimated at 25$`{}_{10}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+15}`$ Jupiter masses ($`\text{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$). The separation between both objects and their mass ratio suggest the fragmentation of a collapsing cloud as the most likely origin for G 196-3B, but alternatively it could have originated from a proto-planetary disc which has been dissipated. Whatever the formation process was, the young age of the primary star ($``$100 Myr) demonstrates that substellar companions can form in short time scales.

Direct imaging searches for brown dwarfs and giant planets around stars explore a range of physical separations complementary to that of radial velocity measurements and provide key information on how substellar-mass companions are formed. Any companion uncovered by an imaging technique can be further investigated by spectroscopy which allows information to be obtained on its atmospheric conditions and evolutionary status. So far, only one unambiguous brown dwarf companion to a star has been imaged (1) and subsequently investigated in detail (2, 3, 4). Young, nearby cool dwarf stars are ideal search targets for substellar-mass companions (brown dwarfs and giant planets) using direct imaging techniques because: (i) young substellar objects are considerably more luminous when undergoing the initial phases of gravitational contraction (5, 6, 7) than at later stages; (ii) stars in the solar neighbourhood (i.e. within 50 pc of the Sun) allow the detection of faint companions at physical separations of several tens of AU; and (iii) cool stars are among the least luminous stars which favor full optimization of the dynamical range of current detectors to achieve detection of companions as faint as possible by means of narrow-band imaging techniques at red wavelengths.

Using X-ray emission as an indicator of youth (8, 9, 10) we have selected a number of late-type stars (K and M spectral classes) in the solar neighbourhood for which we have obtained deep images (down to a limit of about 19 mag in $`I`$) in narrow-band filters (11) centered at 740 and 914 nm (with a bandwidth of 10 nm). The survey is being conducted at the 0.8-m telescope of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC80) at the Teide Observatory (OT) on Tenerife using the Thomson 1024$`\times `$1024 charge-coupled device (CCD). One pixel of this detector projects 0.432 arc sec on the sky. The two narrow filters allow effective discrimination of faint red objects at separations larger than 3–4 times the full width at half maximum of the point source response which, for the first 52 targets of the program, was on average close to 1.5 arc sec. Here we report on the discovery of a very red companion to the high proper motion M-dwarf star G 196-3. The observations were performed on 25 January 1998. A comparison of the images taken at different wavelengths showed that a faint red companion was present at 16.2 arc sec southwest of the star (position angle = 210 , see Fig. 1). We have named this companion as G 196-3B. Further optical $`R`$ and $`I`$ broad-band photometry (Table 1) was obtained at the 1-m Optical Ground Station (OGS) telescope on 19 March 1998, while infrared $`J`$ and $`K`$ data (Table 1) were collected at the 1.5-m Carlos Sánchez Telescope (TCS) on 24 March 1998, both telescopes located at the OT. The colors of G 196-3B clearly reveal that it is one of the reddest objects known.

Inspection of the second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-2) red plates (obtained from the STScI Digitized Sky Survey) provides a 2-$`\sigma `$ detection of G 196-3B at the position expected for a proper motion (12) common with that of G 196-3. Images in the $`I`$-band taken with ALFOSC at the 2.5-m Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) on 16 February 1998 (with a pixel size of 0.187 arc sec) and with HIRAC on 3 June 1998 (pixel size 0.109 arc sec) confirm that the faint object has a proper motion ($`\mu _{\alpha \mathrm{cos}\delta }`$ = –0.5$`\pm `$0.1 arc sec yr<sup>-1</sup>, $`\mu _\delta `$ = –0.3$`\pm `$0.1 arc sec yr<sup>-1</sup>) consistent with that of the M star within 2-$`\sigma `$ error bars (13).

A low-resolution optical spectrum of G 196-3B (Fig. 2, top panel) was obtained at the NOT on 16 February 1998, using the low-resolution ALFOSC spectrograph, grating no. 4 (dispersion 3.2 Å per pixel, effective resolution 16 Å) and a LORAL 2048$`\times `$2048 detector. It shows distinctive features which are characteristic of temperatures cooler than 2000 K. G 196-3B’s spectrum is dominated by two pronounced absorptions centered on 769 and 868 nm. Both features have recently been identified as due to a considerable broadening of the 766.4, 769.8 nm K i resonance doublet (14, 15, 16) and due to molecular absorptions of CrH (17) at 861.1 and 869.6 nm and FeH (.) at 869.2 nm, respectively. TiO and VO molecular absorptions, which are very intense in M-type dwarfs, appear weak or non-existent in our spectrum possibly indicating the photospheric depletion of Ti and V atoms to form dust grains. All this, together with the comparison of our data with the spectra of similar resolution obtained for Kelu 1 (18) and DENIS objects (19), suggests that G 196-3B deserves to be considered as an appropriate candidate for the so-called L-type class (.). There is no evidence for H<sub>α</sub> in emission, and the atomic lines of Na i, Rb i and Cs i, which are observed in other L-type objects, show up weakly in G 196-3B. Their weakness can be interpreted as an indication of low surface gravity consistent with the expectation of a very young object undergoing gravitational contraction. From the similarity of our spectrum to that of Kelu 1 we infer an effective temperature of 1800$`\pm `$200 K for G 196-3B. The probability of finding a free-floating L-type field object in our survey (0.74 deg<sup>2</sup>) is rather small ($``$4%) given the statistics of detections of similar objects achieved by the large-scale infrared surveys DENIS (.) and 2MASS (20). This provides additional support for G 196-3B being a genuine companion to the M primary star.

A low-resolution optical spectrum of G 196-3 covering a wavelength range of 449–900 nm was obtained at the NOT with the same instrumental setup and on the same date as that of the companion. Using spectral indicators (21, 22) based on the strength of several TiO bands present in this wavelength interval, we classify our star as an M2.5 dwarf with an uncertainty of half a subclass. Broad-band $`VRIJHK`$ photometry (Table 1) obtained with the IAC80 telescope on 27 February 1998 and with the TCS telescope on 17–20 June 1998, agrees with this spectral classification. The optical spectrum is similar to that of M2–3 dwarfs in young stellar clusters of solar metallicity. The observed optical and infrared colors present no strange anomaly that might be attributed to an unresolved less massive companion to G 196-3, and no indication of changes in the radial velocity is found beyond the uncertainties of our measurements ($`\pm 6`$ km s<sup>-1</sup>) determined using high-resolution spectra taken at the INT over a time interval of several hours to days. This makes very unlikely that the star is actually a close contact binary. The spectral type combined with the observed fluxes indicates the star is at a minimum distance of 15.4 pc from Earth; this distance would correspond to the star’s being at the hydrogen-burning stage on the main sequence. As we shall discuss below, there are reasons to believe the star is young and in a pre-main sequence phase; it is therefore at a more luminous evolutionary stage and consequently at a greater distance.

H<sub>α</sub> and H<sub>β</sub> are seen in emission with equivalent widths (EWs) of 0.40$`\pm `$0.03 nm and 0.33$`\pm `$0.03 nm, respectively, indicating a significant chromospheric activity in G 196-3; this is also supported by the strong emission of Ca ii H and K (EWs of 1.7 and 1.0$`\pm `$0.1 nm, respectively) and other Balmer lines (23) (see Fig. 3), as well as by the star being an extreme ultraviolet source (24). This when taken together with the high X-ray flux (48$`\times `$10<sup>-13</sup> erg cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>) measured by the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS), which at the minimum distance of the star results in a X-ray luminosity of $`L_\mathrm{X}=1.36\times 10^{29}`$ erg s<sup>-1</sup>, supports the hypothesis that we are dealing with a young star. G 196-3 shows the same chromospheric and coronal properties of stars of similar temperatures in the young open cluster $`\alpha `$ Persei (60 Myr) (25) and slightly more activity than the average of its counterparts in the Pleiades (120 Myr) (26). The coronal and chromospheric properties, when examined in the light of the available data on the activity of stars of similar spectral type in these clusters (., .), suggest an age for G 196-3 of $``$100 Myr, i.e. intermediate between that of the $`\alpha `$ Persei and Pleiades clusters.

An upper limit to the age can be imposed from the comparison to the Hyades cluster (600 Myr), where the average of chromospheric and coronal emission of M2–M3 stars is considerably lower than in G 196-3. This star appears to be significantly younger than the Hyades and hence, we will adopt 300 Myr, an age intermediate between that of the Pleiades and Hyades, as a reasonable age upper limit. The lower age limit can be derived from observations of Li i at 670.8 nm. Lithium is a fragile element which burns efficiently in the interiors of fully convective stars over short time scales (a few tens of Myr). Convection drains material from the stellar atmosphere into the innermost layers where the temperature is high enough for Li burning to take place. There are several models (., .) in the literature that predict the Li depletion rate as function of mass for low-mass stars and give consistent results. A search was made for the Li i line in G 196-3, and an optical spectrum was obtained on 13 February 1998 using the Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph with the 235-mm camera and a 1024$`\times `$1024 CCD on the INT at the ORM. The H1800V grating gave a nominal dispersion of 0.053 nm per pixel and an effective resolution of 0.1 nm. The spectral range covered was 640–696.5 nm. We imposed an upper limit on the EW of 0.005 nm which gives a Li depletion factor larger than 1000 with respect to its original abundance. This constrains the age of the star to be older than 20 Myr (27). All these considerations provide a most likely age for G 196-3 that locates our star in the pre-main sequence evolutionary phase, and thus at a more luminous stage than expected for its main-sequence lifetime. According to the age range derived, the most probable distance to the system is 21$`\pm `$6 pc, the minimum value corresponding to the case of the primary star already on the main sequence and the maximum distance taking into account the youngest possible age.

Assuming this distance interval, we can estimate the luminosity of the companion, G 196-3B, from the measured $`I`$ and $`K`$ magnitudes and the $`K`$ bolometric correction (28) as a function of the color $`(IK)`$. The values obtained are log $`L/L_{}`$ = –4.1 conservatively assuming the oldest age (main-sequence) and log $`L/L_{}`$ = –3.6 for the youngest one. The comparison of our optical/infrared magnitudes with the recent evolutionary tracks (29, 30), which include dust condensation, allows us to conclude that the mass of G 196-3B is 25$`{}_{10}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+15}`$$`\text{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$, where the upper and lower values result from the age limits discussed above.

An independent confirmation of the substellar nature of this faint companion was achieved with the detection of the Li i resonance doublet at 670.8 nm. We obtained an intermediate-resolution optical spectrum at the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) at the ORM on 6 April 1998 (Fig. 2, bottom panel) using the ISIS double-arm spectrograph, grating of 316 grooves mm<sup>-1</sup> and a 1024$`\times `$1024 Tektronix CCD, an instrumental setup which provided a nominal dispersion of 0.15 nm per pixel (an effective resolution of 0.3 nm). The EW of the doublet is 0.5$`\pm `$0.1 nm which, using model atmospheres (.), gives an atmospheric abundance consistent with no depletion at all of lithium. The presence of Li combined with the low atmospheric temperature rules out the possibility that our object is a star. Any brown dwarf with a mass below 65 $`\text{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$ should preserve its initial Li content for its entire lifetime, and an object with such a small mass as that of G 196-3B should necessarily show a high Li content. While in more massive substellar objects the presence of Li would help to determine its evolutionary stage more precisely through the time dependence of Li burning, for our object this detection provides a necessary check of consistency.

A more precise evolutionary status of G 196-3B can be determined with an accurate parallax measurement and/or the detection of deuterium in the atmosphere. Deuterium, a more fragile nuclear species than Li, is burnt (., 31) in substellar-mass objects with masses above 12–15 $`\text{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$. The consumption of deuterium provides a significant part of the total luminosity of brown dwarfs during the early phases that takes from 1 to 100 Myr depending on its mass and age. G 196-3B has probably burnt its deuterium, but it could have preserved a detectable amount if its mass were indeed close to 15 $`\text{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$. Detection of deuterium features (deuterated molecules, hyperfine-transition isotopic splitting, etc.) could contribute to better determine the mass and evolutionary status of G 196-3B.

The distance of the system implies a physical separation between the two components of more than 250 AU, being 350 AU at 21 pc. It could be even larger if the system were younger and therefore more distant from the Sun. This large distance and the high mass ratio of 16:1 between the two components favors the fragmentation of a collapsing cloud as the most plausible explanation for the formation of the system (32, 33). It cannot be excluded, however, that the accretion of matter in a proto-planetary disc may produce an object more massive than 15 $`\text{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$ at such large distances. Accretion discs extending up to several hundred astronomical units are known to exist around several stars (34). Similar surveys to that conducted here will provide a statistically significant number of substellar-mass companions to test the proposed formation mechanisms and may well promote the development of new ideas as occurred with the recent findings of giant planets with highly eccentric orbits around solar-type stars (35, 36). Of the 52 stars we have examined so far, only G 196-3 has shown a substellar companion at distances larger than 60 AU, the minimum physical distance that we can explore given the characteristics of our survey. We may infer from this that the percentage of stars with substellar companions of roughly this mass at this or larger distances may be of the order of 2%. This is similar to the number of stars that show such companions at distances smaller than 5 AU according to searches based on radial-velocity measurements (., .).

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* ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank N. González Pérez for assistance with the infrared observations at the TCS and J. Casares and I. Martínez-Pais for their assistance at the INT. We are also indebted to I. Baraffe and the Lyon group for providing us with new evolutionary models for very low masses prior to publication; and to E. Polomski for sending the published spectrum of G 196-3 in digitalized format. We are also indebted to E. L. Martín and G. Basri for sharing data prior to publication. This paper is based on observations made with the IAC80, the European Space Agency OGS and the TCS, operated by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) at the OT; and the NOT, the INT and the WHT operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group at the ORM of the IAC. Partial financial support was provided by the Spanish DGES project no. PB95-1132-C02-01.

Figure captions.   

Figure 1.  $`I`$-band image taken at NOT ($`36\times \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}36}`$ arc sec<sup>2</sup>) showing the substellar companion, G 196-3B, discovered at 16.2 arc sec SW (position angle = 210) of the young nearby red star G 196-3.

Figure 2. (Top panel) Optical low-resolution spectrum of the substellar companion G 196-3B obtained at the NOT telescope. The spectrum (normalized to unity at 813 nm) shows features which are distinctive of very cool temperatures ($`T_{\mathrm{eff}}2000`$ K). (Bottom panel) Intermediate-resolution spectrum obtained at the WHT telescope showing the lithium detection at 670.8 nm in G 196-3B.

Figure 3. Low-resolution spectra of the M2.5 type star G 196-3 (.) showing Ca ii H and K and some Balmer lines in emission in comparison to other young stars of similar spectral type (AP 246 is M3 and AP 237 is M4) in the $`\alpha `$ Persei cluster. Spectra have been normalized to unity at 450 nm and a constant offset of 1 in the flux axis has been added for clarity.