Precise radial velocities of giant stars. XI. Two brown dwarfs in 6:1 mean motion resonance around the K giant star ν Ophiuchi

We present radial-velocity (RV) measurements for the K giant ν Oph (= HIP 88048, HD 163917, HR 6698), which reveal two brown dwarf companions with a period ratio close to 6:1. For our orbital analysis we use 150 precise RV measurements taken at the Lick Observatory between 2000 and 2011, and we combine them with RV data for this star available in the literature. Using a stellar mass of M = 2.7M_⊙ for ν Oph and applying a self-consistent N-body model we estimate the minimum dynamical companion masses to be m₁ sin i ≈ 22.2 M_Jup and m₂ sin i ≈ 24.7 M_Jup, with orbital periods P₁ ≈ 530 d and P₂ ≈ 3185 d. We study a large set of potential orbital configurations for this system, employing a bootstrap analysis and a systematic χ_ν² grid-search coupled with our dynamical fitting model, and we examine their long-term stability. We find that the system is indeed locked in a 6:1 mean motion resonance (MMR), with Δω and all six resonance angles θ₁-θ₆ librating around 0°. We also test a large set of coplanar inclined configurations, and we find that the system will remain in a stable resonance for most of these configurations. The ν Oph system is important for probing planetary formation and evolution scenarios. It seems very likely that the two brown dwarf companions of ν Oph formed like planets in a circumstellar disk around the star and have been trapped in an MMR by smooth migration capture.

Based on observations collected at Lick Observatory, University of California and on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile, under program IDs 088.D-0132, 089.D-0186, 090.D-0155, and 091.D-0365.Table A1 is also available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/624/A18