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Session 12 - Binary Stars.
Display session, Monday, June 08
Atlas Ballroom,
A planet-mass gravitational companion has been infered from accurate radial velocity measurements of the sun-like star 51 Pegasi. Because radial velocity techniques establish only the lower-limit of for companion mass, we have conducted an near-infrared interferometric search for luminous companions to 51 Pegasi with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer. We find no evidence to suggest a luminous companion to 51 Pegasi, and can exclude a companion brighter than a \DeltaK of 4.27 at the 99% confidence level for the 4.2-day orbital period indicated by spectroscopic measurements. This \DeltaK corresponds to an upper limit in the companion M_K of 7.30, in turn implying a main-sequence companion mass less than 0.22 M_\sun.
