SCExAO/CHARIS Direct Imaging Discovery of a 20 au Separation, Low-Mass Ratio Brown Dwarf Companion to an Accelerating Sun-like Star

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a low-mass brown dwarf companion at 20 au to a Sun-like star using direct imaging and astrometric data, providing insights into substellar companions at solar system scales.

Contribution

First direct imaging detection of a low-mass brown dwarf at 20 au around a Sun-like star with combined spectroscopy and astrometry analysis.

Findings

Companion has a mass of 46.4 ± 8 M_J.

Orbital eccentricity is constrained to e < 0.46.

Mass ratio of the companion is approximately 4%.

Abstract

We present the direct imaging discovery of a substellar companion to the nearby Sun-like star, HD 33632 Aa, at a projected separation of $\sim$ 20 au, obtained with SCExAO/CHARIS integral field spectroscopy complemented by Keck/NIRC2 thermal infrared imaging. The companion, HD 33632 Ab, induces a 10.5$\sigma$ astrometric acceleration on the star as detected with the $Gaia$ and $Hipparcos$ satellites. SCExAO/CHARIS $JHK$ (1.1--2.4 $\mu$m) spectra and Keck/NIRC2 $L_{\rm p}$ (3.78 $\mu$m) photometry are best matched by a field L/T transition object: an older, higher gravity, and less dusty counterpart to HR 8799 cde. Combining our astrometry with $Gaia/Hipparcos$ data and archival Lick Observatory radial-velocities, we measure a dynamical mass of 46.4 $\pm$ 8 $M_{\rm J}$ and an eccentricity of $e$ $<$0.46 at 95\% confidence. HD 33632 Ab's mass and mass ratio (4.0\% $\pm$ 0.7\%) are comparable to the low-mass brown dwarf GJ 758 B and intermediate between the more massive brown dwarf HD 19467 B and the (near-)planet mass companions to HR 2562 and GJ 504. Using $Gaia$ to select for direct imaging observations with the newest extreme adaptive optics systems can reveal substellar or even planet-mass companions on solar system-like scales at an increased frequency compared to blind surveys.