Direct Imaging Discovery and Dynamical Mass of a Substellar Companion Orbiting an Accelerating Hyades Sun-like Star with SCExAO/CHARIS

TL;DR

This paper reports the direct imaging discovery and dynamical mass measurement of a substellar companion orbiting a Hyades star, providing valuable insights into substellar object properties and formation in a well-characterized cluster.

Contribution

First direct imaging detection and dynamical mass determination of a substellar companion in the Hyades, demonstrating the effectiveness of combining high-contrast imaging and astrometry.

Findings

Companion has a mass of approximately 28 Jupiter masses.

Orbit semi-major axis is about 17.5 AU.

Spectroscopy indicates an early T dwarf spectrum.

Abstract

We present the direct-imaging discovery of a substellar companion in orbit around a Sun-like star member of the Hyades open cluster. So far, no other substellar companions have been unambiguously confirmed via direct imaging around main-sequence stars in Hyades. The star HIP 21152 is an accelerating star as identified by the astrometry from the Gaia and Hipparcos satellites. We have detected the companion, HIP 21152 B, in multi-epoch using the high-contrast imaging from SCExAO/CHARIS and Keck/NIRC2. We have also obtained the stellar radial-velocity data from the Okayama 188cm telescope. The CHARIS spectroscopy reveals that HIP 21152 B's spectrum is consistent with the L/T transition, best fit by an early T dwarf. Our orbit modeling determines the semi-major axis and the dynamical mass of HIP 21152 B to be 17.5$^{+7.2}_{-3.8}$ au and 27.8$^{+8.4}_{-5.4}$ $M_{\rm{Jup}}$, respectively. The mass ratio of HIP 21152 B relative to its host is $\approx$2\%, near the planet/brown dwarf boundary suggested from recent surveys. Mass estimates inferred from luminosity evolution models are slightly higher (33--42 $M_{\rm{Jup}}$). With a dynamical mass and a well-constrained age due to the system's Hyades membership, HIP 21152 B will become a critical benchmark in understanding the formation, evolution, and atmosphere of a substellar object as a function of mass and age. Our discovery is yet another key proof-of-concept for using precision astrometry to select direct imaging targets.