Warm brown dwarf discovered by TESS satellite

(ORDO NEWS) — Using the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a warm brown dwarf.

Brown dwarfs are intermediate objects between planets and stars. Their masses range from 13 to 80 Jupiter masses. Although many brown dwarfs have been discovered to date, they are still a rare find.

Recently, a team of astronomers led by Michigan State University’s Noah Vowell discovered a new object of this type. A transiting signal was identified in the light curve of the star HIP 33609.

Subsequent spectroscopic and photometric observations confirmed that the transiting object is a large, massive, warm brown dwarf.

The brown dwarf has a radius about 58% larger than that of Jupiter, and its mass is estimated at about 68 Jupiter masses.

Observations show that the orbit of HIP 33609 b is highly eccentric. The eccentricity is 0.56 and the orbital period is 39.47 days. It was found that the equilibrium temperature of a brown dwarf is 1237 K.

HIP 33609 is a class B star. It has a radius of about 1.86 solar radii. It is 2.38 times more massive than the Sun. Its rotation period is approximately 55.6 km / s. The star’s effective temperature is about 10,400 K.

Astronomers have noted that HIP 33609 b’s unusual parameters, especially its long orbital period, could help expand our knowledge of transiting companions around hot stars.

Therefore, HIP 33609 b is perceived as a benchmark for substellar evolutionary models.

The scientists added that all previously detected transit satellites around class B and A stars have orbital periods of less than 10 days.

In addition, observations made by Vowell’s team led to the discovery of a young stellar association (estimated to be about 150 million years old), designated MELANGE-6. It appears that HIP 33609 is a member of this association.

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