摘要:We present the results of a direct imaging survey for very large separation (>100 au), low-mass companions around 95 nearby young K5–L5 stars and brown dwarfs. They are high-likelihood candidates or confirmed members of the young (150 Myr) β Pictoris and AB Doradus moving groups (ABDMG) and the TW Hya, Tucana–Horologium, Columba, Carina, and Argus associations. Images in and filters were obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South to search for companions down to an apparent magnitude of ~ 22–24 at separations 20'' from the targets and in the remainder of the wide 55 × 55 GMOS field of view. This allowed us to probe the most distant region where planetary-mass companions could be gravitationally bound to the targets. This region was left largely unstudied by past high-contrast imaging surveys, which probed much closer-in separations. This survey led to the discovery of a planetary-mass (9–13 ) companion at 2000 au from the M3V star GU Psc, a highly probable member of ABDMG. No other substellar companions were identified. These results allowed us to constrain the frequency of distant planetary-mass companions (5–13 ) to % (95% confidence) at semimajor axes between 500 and 5000 au around young K5–L5 stars and brown dwarfs. This is consistent with other studies suggesting that gravitationally bound planetary-mass companions at wide separations from low-mass stars are relatively rare.
关键词:planets and satellites: detection;planets and satellites: gaseous planets;stars: individual (GU Psc);stars: low-mass Supporting material: machine-readable tables