Dynamical Mass of GJ 802B: a brown dwarf in a triple system

TL;DR

This paper presents a precise dynamical mass measurement of the brown dwarf GJ 802B in a triple system, revealing potential discrepancies in brown dwarf evolutionary models for older ages.

Contribution

It provides the first dynamical mass measurement of GJ 802B and uncovers that GJ 802A is a close spectroscopic binary, highlighting complexities in brown dwarf aging models.

Findings

Mass of GJ 802B is 0.063±0.005 solar masses.

GJ 802 system is likely around 10 billion years old.

Brown dwarf models may underestimate luminosity for old objects.

Abstract

We report a dynamical measurement of the mass of the brown dwarf GJ 802B using aperture-masking interferometry and astrometry. In addition, we report the discovery that GJ 802A is itself a close spectroscopic non-eclipsing binary with a 19 hour period. We find the mass of GJ 802B to be $0.063\pm0.005$M$_\sun$. GJ 802 has kinematics inconsistent with a young star and more consistent with the thick disk population, implying a system age of $\sim$10 GYr. However, model evolutionary tracks for GJ 802B predict system ages of $\sim$2 GYr, suggesting that brown dwarf evolutionary models may be underestimating luminosity for old brown dwarfs.