Orbits and masses in the young triple system TWA 5

TL;DR

This study refines the orbital parameters and determines the individual masses of the components in the young triple system TWA 5 using new and existing astrometric data, confirming theoretical models within the system's age range.

Contribution

It provides improved orbital elements and mass measurements for TWA 5 components, utilizing adaptive optics observations and combining multiple data sources for the first time.

Findings

Orbital period of 6.03 years with a semi-major axis of 3.2 AU.

Total system mass of approximately 0.9 solar masses.

Mass ratio indicating the less luminous component is more massive.

Abstract

We aim to improve the orbital elements and determine the individual masses of the components in the triple system TWA 5. Five new relative astrometric positions in the H band were recorded with the adaptive optics system at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We combine them with data from the literature and a measurement in the Ks band. We derive an improved fit for the orbit of TWA 5Aa-b around each other. Furthermore, we use the third component, TWA 5B, as an astrometric reference to determine the motion of Aa and Ab around their center of mass and compute their mass ratio. We find an orbital period of 6.03+/-0.01 years and a semi-major axis of 63.7+/-0.2 mas (3.2+/-0.1 AU). With the trigonometric distance of 50.1+/-1.8 pc, this yields a system mass of 0.9+/-0.1 Msun, where the error is dominated by the error of the distance. The dynamical mass agrees with the system mass predicted by a number of theoretical models if we assume that TWA5 is at the young end of the age range of the TW Hydrae association. We find a mass ratio of M_Ab / M_Aa = 1.3 +0.6/-0.4, where the less luminous component Ab is more massive. This result is likely to be a consequence of the large uncertainties due to the limited orbital coverage of the observations.