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A Substellar Companion to the Intermediate-Mass Giant 11 Comae

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© 2008. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation Y.-J. Liu et al 2008 ApJ 672 553 DOI 10.1086/523297

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Author affiliations

1 National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100012 Beijing, China

2 Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049 Beijing, China

3 Global Edge Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan

4 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

5 Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Asakuchi, Okayama 719-0232, Japan

6 Department of Astronomical Science, Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan

7 Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-8501, Japan

8 Department of Physics, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan

9 Tokushima Science Museum, Atamu Land Tokushima, Itano-chō, Tokushima 779-0111, Japan

10 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan

Dates

  1. Received 2007 June 17
  2. Accepted 2007 September 4
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0004-637X/672/1/553

Abstract

We report the detection of a substellar companion orbiting the intermediate-mass giant star 11 Com (G8 III). Precise Doppler measurements of the star from Xinglong Station and Okayama Astrophysical Observatory (OAO) reveal Keplerian velocity variations with an orbital period of 326.03 ± 0.32 days, a semiamplitude of 302.8 ± 2.6 m s−1, and an eccentricity of 0.231 ± 0.005. Adopting a stellar mass of 2.7 ± 0.3 M☉, the minimum mass of the companion is 19.4 ± 1.5 MJ, well above the deuterium-burning limit, and the semimajor axis is 1.29 ± 0.05 AU. This is the first result from a joint planet-search program between China and Japan aimed at revealing the statistics of substellar companions around intermediate-mass giants. 11 Com b emerged from 300 targets of the planet-search program at OAO. The program's current detection rate of brown dwarf candidates seems to be comparable to the rate of such detections around solar-type stars with orbital separations of ≲3 AU.

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10.1086/523297