[11.02] Coronagraphic Search for Close-in Companions to Nearby Stars

AAS 200th meeting, Albuquerque, NM, June 2002
Session 11. Nearby Stars and Low Mass Dwarfs
Display, Monday, June 3, 2002, 9:20am-6:30pm, SW Exhibit Hall

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[11.02] Coronagraphic Search for Close-in Companions to Nearby Stars

S. A. Metchev, L. A. Hillenbrand (Caltech), Michael Meyer (U. Arizona)

We present results from an on-going search for close-in (>0.1 arcsec) stellar and sub-stellar companions conducted with the Palomar 200-inch adaptive optics system (PALAO) using the PHARO camera in coronagraphic mode. Our estimated dynamic range sensitivity is 12.5 mag at 1 arcsec and 15 mag at 2 arcsec in the K-short band, corresponding approximately to 3 (10) and 1 (5) Jupiter masses at 10 pc for the 0.1 (1.0) Gyr old objects in our sample. We have imaged 13 sources with the coronagraph in place and present detection limits on close-in companions. From direct (non-coronagraphic) AO imaging, we find that 9 of 20 imaged stars are binaries, 8 of which are new discoveries. The faintest imaged companion has a K-short magnitude of 10.7, which at a distance of 35 pc and age of 0.15 Gyr, corresponds to mass just above the hydrogen-burning limit.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: metchev@astro.caltech.edu

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