Are isolated planetary-mass objects really isolated? A brown dwarf-exoplanet system candidate in the sigma Orionis cluster

TL;DR

This study investigates whether some free-floating planetary-mass objects are part of wide planetary systems by identifying a candidate brown dwarf-exoplanet system in the sigma Orionis cluster, challenging the idea of their isolation.

Contribution

The paper presents the discovery of a probable wide planetary system in sigma Orionis, with detailed spectroscopic analysis supporting its cluster membership and potential status as the widest known low-mass planetary system.

Findings

Identified a candidate system with a projected separation of 1700 AU.

Spectroscopic features confirm cluster membership of the brown dwarf.

Potentially the widest and lowest-mass planetary system known.

Abstract

The recent detection by direct imaging of three giant planets at wide separation (50-250 AU) from their primaries has raised the question about the ``true isolation'' of planetary-mass objects in clusters. Our goal was to test the possibility that some free-floating planetary-mass object could in fact be part of wide planetary systems. We searched in the literature for stellar and brown-dwarf member candidates of the sigma Orionis cluster at small angular separations from published candidate planetary-mass objects. We found one candidate planetary system, SE 70, composed of an X-ray source and a planetary-mass object, namely S Ori 68, separated by only 4.6 arcsec. In order to assess the cluster membership of the X-ray source, we obtained mid-resolution optical spectroscopy using ISIS on the William Herschel Telescope. We also compiled additional data on the target from available astronomical catalogues. We have found that SE 70 follows the spectrophotometric sequence of the cluster and displays spectroscopic features of youth, such as lithium in absorption and chromospheric Halpha emission. The radial velocity is consistent with cluster membership. Hence, SE 70 is very probably a sigma Orionis cluster member. The projected physical separation between SE 70 and S Ori 68 is 1700+/-300 AU at the distance of the cluster. If the common proper motion is confirmed in the near future, the system would be composed of an M5-6 brown dwarf with an estimated mass of ~45 M_Jup and an L5+/-2 giant planet with an estimated mass of ~5 M_Jup. It would be the widest and one of the lowest-mass planetary systems known so far.