Projects per year
Abstract
We report the discovery of a low-mass stellar companion around the young Herbig Be star MWC 297. We performed multi-epoch high-contrast imaging in the near-infrared with the Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument. The companion is found at a projected separation of 244.7 ± 13.2 au and a position angle of 176.4 ± 0.1 deg. The large separation supports formation via gravitational instability. From the spectrum, we estimate a mass of 0.1-0.5 M o˙, the range conveying uncertainties in the extinction of the companion and in evolutionary models at young ages. The orbit coincides with a gap in the dust disk inferred from the spectral energy distribution. The young age (≲1 Myr) and mass ratio with the central star (∼0.01) makes the companion comparable to PDS 70 b, suggesting a relation between formation scenarios and disk dynamics.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | L8 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
Volume | 890 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Feb 2020 |
Projects
- 1 Finished
-
Gaps, rings and holes in protoplanetary discs - signs of newborn planets?
Price, D. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Lodato, G. (Partner Investigator (PI)) & Pinte, C. (Chief Investigator (CI))
30/05/18 → 31/12/22
Project: Research