Interferometric Astrometry of Proxima Centauri and Barnard's StarUsing HUBBLE SPACETELESCOPE Fine Guidance Sensor 3:Detection Limits forSubstellar Companions*

G. Fritz Benedict; Barbara McArthur; D. W. Chappell; E. Nelan; W. H. Jefferys; W. van Altena; J. Lee; D. Cornell; P. J. Shelus; P. D. Hemenway; Otto G. Franz; L. H. Wasserman; R. L. Duncombe; D. Story; A. L. Whipple; L. W. Fredrick

doi:10.1086/300975

Interferometric Astrometry of Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star Using HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Fine Guidance Sensor 3: Detection Limits for Substellar Companions^*

G. Fritz Benedict¹, Barbara McArthur¹, D. W. Chappell², E. Nelan³, W. H. Jefferys⁴, W. van Altena⁵, J. Lee⁵, D. Cornell⁶, P. J. Shelus¹, P. D. Hemenway⁷, Otto G. Franz⁸, L. H. Wasserman⁸, R. L. Duncombe⁹, D. Story¹⁰, A. L. Whipple¹¹, and L. W. Fredrick¹²

© 1999. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 118, Number 2 Citation G. Fritz Benedict et al 1999 AJ 118 1086 DOI 10.1086/300975

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Author affiliations

¹ McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712

² Environmental Systems Science Center, University of Reading, P.O. Box 238, Reading RG6 6AL, UK

³ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218

⁴ Department of Astronomy, RLM 15.308, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712

⁵ Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520

⁶ Tracor Aerospace, MD 28-4, 6500 Tracor Lane, Austin, TX 78725

⁷ Oceanography, Department of Physics, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881

⁸ Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001

⁹ Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712

¹⁰ Aerospace Engineering Division, Jackson & Tull, Inc., Suite 200, 7375 Executive Place, Seabrook, MD 20706

¹¹ AlliedSignal Aerospace, P.O. Box 91, Annapolis Junction, MD 20706

¹² Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 3818, Charlottesville, VA 22903

Dates

Received 1999 March 3
Accepted 1999 April 26

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Abstract

We report on a substellar-companion search utilizing interferometric fringe-tracking astrometry acquired with Fine Guidance Sensor 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. Our targets were Proxima Centauri and Barnard's star. We obtain absolute parallax values of π_abs = 0 farcs 7687 ± 0 farcs 0003 for Proxima Cen and π_abs = 0 farcs 5454 ± 0 farcs 0003 for Barnard's star. Once low-amplitude instrumental systematic errors are identified and removed, our companion detection sensitivity is less than or equal to one Jupiter mass for periods longer than 60 days for Proxima Cen. Between the astrometry and the recent radial velocity results of Kürster et al., we exclude all companions with M > 0.8M_Jup for the range of periods 1 day < P < 1000 days. For Barnard's star, our companion detection sensitivity is less than or equal to one Jupiter mass for periods longer than 150 days. Our null results for Barnard's star are consistent with those reported by Gatewood in 1995.

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Footnotes

*
Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

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Interferometric Astrometry of Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star Using HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Fine Guidance Sensor 3: Detection Limits for Substellar Companions*